Dark Sonic 2: Resurgence
by Sonadow345
Summary: Sequel to Operation Chaos. Five months after the events of the Dark Moon, Silver is still missing. So the gang is brought back together to find him. But Sonic, meanwhile, is stuck playing Dark's twisted game, which involves his mysterious past. With the clock ticking, can Sonic, Alexa and Shadow save Silver and put an end to this? Or are the doomed to fail at the Dark God's hands?
1. Hidden Dangers

Five months ago, the Dark Moon had risen again and with that, two unfortunate souls were forced to bring the God of Darkness, Mephiles, back from the Dark Dimension. If it wasn't for the determination and courage of their friends, the boys would've brought hell onto the world, with Sonic the Hedgehog losing his soul to Mephiles, becoming the God's Demigod Controller. Silver the Hedgehog would've lost his life, since he was the descendant of Mephiles and would therefore have to be the vessel for Mephiles to possess. Fortunately, the Ritual of Wicked Darkness was stopped before Mephiles could return and Sonic was saved. But Silver, who currently goes by the name Venice, wasn't saved. Venice had ran off before the group could save him. Sonic, after being saved by the Guardian of Light Alexa, was then put on trial by Commander Tower for the destruction caused by Sonic's dark self. Thanks to Alexa, Sonic was clear of all charges. All that was left was to turn Venice back to Silver. But that was easier said than done. Nobody had seen Venice since the night of the Dark Moon. After months of looking for the hedgehog, the team had come to realise that they could never see Silver again.

…

_UNSD Headquarters, Delatyne_

Alexa the Hedgehog was sitting in her office flicking through files and fact-checking records. After finishing the work needed on a file, she put her head on the desk out of stress. This was by far the worst part of her job, and yet she stuck to it. Stuck to it all the way. Alexa lifted her head as she heard someone knocking on the door.

"Come in," said Alexa, trying to look busy.

A dark green hedgehog walked in, his azure eyes looking directly at Alexa.

"How's the paper work going, Alexa?" Asked the hedgehog.

"It's getting there," replied the princess, "I wish there was a faster way of doing this. It's not my favourite activity, Thomas."

"I know," said Thomas, "but it has to be done."

"I understand," said Alexa, with a frustrated tone in her voice, "but it doesn't change the fact that I don't enjoy it."

Thomas handed a memo over to Alexa, bracing himself for her reaction. Usually, giving Alexa memos was a bad idea, as whatever was on them was something she usually disagreed with, and then she goes on a rant for ten minutes then calm down, somehow. Alexa read the memo then put her head on the desk, surprising Thomas. He was almost afraid to ask her what it had said.

"Is it bad news?" He asked timidly.

Alexa lifted her head and gave him the memo.

"No, they want me to go on vacation for five months because they think I'm being 'overworked'." Said Alexa.

"Well they're not wrong."

"What's that _supposed_ to mean?!"

"I mean," said Thomas calmly, "you do work extremely hard. You also haven't taken a proper break from work in five years since you started. I can tell by looking at you that you're exhausted so taking so time off might be for the best."

"You're right" said Alexa calmly, "but I don't want to give you more work. Especially this boring task."

"Are you kidding? I _love_ doing paperwork," replied Thomas, "and besides it better than trying to deal with the new recruits."

"Are they giving you a hard time?"

"A little"

"I'll sort it before I go, okay?" Replied Alexa.

"Thank you, Chief" replied Thomas.

Once Thomas had left the room, Alexa quickly and quietly whipped out her phone and called a close friend of hers.

"Hey, guess what I just got told today?"

…

Running. Running. Running.

Sonic the Hedgehog kept running in the same direction. He had no idea if this was the right way out, or even if he was moving at all. Everything looked the same…

He had once again found himself in this dark void of nothingness for what felt like the thousandth time. Everything was pitch black, dark and so eerily quiet that you could hear a pin drop. There also was nothing here, aside from the blue blur himself. No life, no objects, no sounds, nothing. It was empty, cold and vacant for what appeared to be for miles. Sonic knew there was nothing beyond the dark horizon. He tried. He tried several times to find _something_ in this abyss that could tell him why he was here, wherever here is. But every time, he found nothing. The only thing he could do was run, after all it wasn't like he had anything else to do. Because there was nothing.

In truth, he had only been here a few times. Every time he would wait for this _trigger_ of sorts to occur, which would reveal the exit but that didn't happen. Not this time.

**_Sonic…_**

The blue blur stopped and was frozen to the core. That voice…he didn't recognise it. But something about its chilling and malicious tone was familiar. That, to Sonic at least, was the voice of a being made of pure evil.

**_Sonic…_**

It continued to called his name in a bored but still viscous voice. Sonic looked all around him, everywhere. But he found nothing. Where was this voice coming from? He thought to himself.

**_Sonic…_**

"Who's there?" Called Sonic, "who are you?"

The voice laughed evilly. It was a chilling, venomous laugh that echoed around the room. Sonic didn't get what was so funny.

**_Forgotten already? I guess I can't be surprised. After all, you like to forget things, don't you?_**

It words were simple and yet hurt Sonic like he was being stabbed over and over. He couldn't be talking about…

"Show yourself already!" Shouted Sonic, "STOP MESSING WITH ME!"

He could feel his anger rising. The voice continued to laugh, taunting him. Sonic balled his hands into fists.

**_I have a question for you, weakling. Do know what it's like to be forgotten?_**

Sonic had enough of his games. He knew what the voice was taking about. But he didn't want to remember. The past is in the past, lost to the ashes of time, right?

**_Forgotten._**

**_Weak._**

**_Pathetic._**

"Stop…" Said Sonic weakly, holding his head which was suddenly in pain, "I SAID STOP!"

**_Abandoned._**

**_Useless._**

**_FreAK._**

**_FeEBLE._**

**_IaDeQuATe._**

**_MONSTER._**

"STOP IT!" Shouted Sonic angrily, "STOP PLAYING YOUR STUPID GAMES WITH ME!"

"_Sonic! Blue hedgehog answer me_!"came a small voice.

**_You are weak, useless and a pushover. Who would ever want you?_**

"I'm not! I'm not" Sonic repeated over and over as the voice manically laughed.

"SONIC, WAKE UP!"

Sonic jolted awake. He sat up immediately to find himself in his bedroom, covered in sweat and Shadow standing next to him with a worried look on his face. Very rarely would Sonic ever see Shadow this concerned about anyone, least of all him.

"That's a grand total of 57 nightmares in five months," said Shadow calmly, "I thought I told you to get help."

"I know," replied Sonic, getting out of bed, "but I don't know how to go about it. And besides, Shadow, I didn't know you were keeping count."

"Well I have," said Shadow, "after all, Alexa needs to know."

"You are not telling her about it."

"Why not?"

"For one, it's embarrassing!"

"She'll find out anyway" said Shadow.

"How?" Asked Sonic.

"Alexa's superiors in the UN think she's overworking herself so they've given her a five month holiday. So she's gonna be staying with us for that time."

"Really?" Said Sonic, looking slightly happier.

"Yeah," said Shadow, "so, given the frequency of your nightmares, you either tell her or she finds out for herself."

"I'll think about," replied Sonic, "when's she coming?"

"Tomorrow," replied Shadow.

Shadow left the room, leaving Sonic alone. He picked up his signature red sneakers and white gloves and went directly to the bathroom to freshen up. He stepped into the shower, it's warm water clothing Sonic effortlessly. He found the warm water soothing as he covered himself in Shadow's shower gel, (he had run out of his own) thinking things through. First off, what the heck was that voice all about? Sonic couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity about the voice. Then there was everything it spoke about. Being forgotten? Sonic wasn't in that position, not anymore at least. Perhaps it's a side effect of all the negative chaos energy being inside his body at once? It could be, but Sonic would have to ask Alexa about it tomorrow.

Sonic had been speaking to Alexa a lot over the past five months, most of the time it was for casual conversation. Some of the calls were in regards to the investigation into Silver's disappearance. Silver…it was all his fault. It was his fault that Silver wasn't here with them right now. He tried to tell Shadow on numerous occasions that losing Silver wasn't his fault, mainly because he caught Shadow moping about it. After all, it was him who turned Silver into Venice, not Shadow. But the Ultimate Lifeform believed that it was his responsibility to look after Silver, hence why he continued to believe he should be blamed for losing Silver.

Sonic turned off the shower and stepped out into the bathroom. He dried his quills using his sky blue towel then put on his sneakers and gloves. Sonic then left the bathroom and went along the hallway and downstairs towards the kitchen for his breakfast. He found Shadow in the kitchen making pancakes, focusing really hard to avoid dropping the pancake. Sonic gave a small laugh at this sight. Every time Shadow made pancakes, one usually managed to cement itself onto the ceiling, only to come back down hours later by either himself or Silver who would be tasked with cleaning it up. That said, Shadow's pancakes always tasted good.

"If you want some," said Shadow, his crimson eyes not leaving the pan, "there are some over there."

Shadow gestured to the plate of pancakes on the counter. Sonic walked over and placed a few of the pancakes on a separate plate, sprayed whip cream over some of the pancakes and cut the ripe strawberries evenly to sprinkle over the cream covered pancakes. He then, silently, went over to the next room; the dinning room to eat. After pouring himself some orange juice, he finally dug into his meal. Shadow came over a few minutes later with his own pancakes, but instead of whip cream and strawberries, Shadow had his covered in maple syrup. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Shadow decided to speak up.

"So, when are you going to tell me what your dreaming about?" He asked bluntly.

"I'd rather not talk about it"

"I doubt it," replied Shadow, "I'm not going to laugh if that's what you're worried about."

"Why wouldn't you?" Asked Sonic, in a more cynical tone.

"Because having so many nightmares in five months isn't normal," replied Shadow, "not to mention that whatever you're dreaming about is clearly distressing."

"How?"

"Take this morning, for example," said Shadow, "when I went to wake you up, I heard you shouting in your sleep,'I'm not!' over and over. You were shaking and covered in sweat. Something is clearly bothering you."

"Look," said Sonic, in a frustrated, "I don't even know what was going on, okay? So can we please drop this and just get on with today?"

Sonic stood up, took his now empty plate over to the sink, dropped and stormed off outside the back garden. Shadow sighed as he picked his plate and put it sink, all while calling Rouge to see if she could help.

…

Sonic walked along the dirt path angrily. The dirt path lead through the woods towards a hidden Chao Garden, a place where Sonic found himself going most days. It was always so calming in the garden, so much so that Sonic would almost always go there if he ever got angry. Sonic was never really angry, but in thinking about how angry he did feel, it brought back something Alexa told him months ago.

"_It's okay to be angry but you shouldn't bottle it up, otherwise it can become something destructive."_

Destructive? Why was it every time Sonic heard that word, he felt the need to break something? He couldn't place his finger on it. Maybe it's the aftermath of all that Negative Chaos Energy being inside him. The thought of such a thing chilled him to the bone. No, he was not that monster anymore. Dark is gone. Forever. Sonic continued down the path, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in.

Up in the trees, out of the blue blurs sight, was a dark grey coloured hedgehog. He watched the blue hedgehog walk further down the path with his dark purple eyes. His slim pupils followed Sonic with intrigue as the blue blur walked down the path, lost in his thoughts. The sooner his dark self shows up, the better.

Sonic, unaware of the fact he was in danger, walked further into the woods towards the Chao Garden, the tall trees in the forest provided shelter from the sun for him. Suddenly, he heard someone move through the woods.

Sonic quickly turned around, only to find no one there. He then heard someone move behind him too. He turned around again, only to find no one there.

"Oh haha, very funny Shadow!" Yelled a frustrated Sonic, "now stop these games and leave me alone!"

There was no reply. Shadow was nowhere to be seen. Sonic was starting to get a little worried. He doesn't like being followed. The blue blur turned round to begin walking to the Chao Garden, only to come face to face with a dark creature.

"AAAAHHHH!" Screamed Sonic in surprise.

"**Looking for me?"** The grey hedgehog spat.

"Who-?" Sonic stuttered. He didn't recognise the hedgehog at all.

**"I am Venice," **came the grey hedgehog,** "it is time for you to take your rightful place, Controller."**

"SONIC!"

Before Venice could harm Sonic, Rouge had appeared and preformed her signature Screw Kick on Venice. Venice then teleported away, with a scowl on his face.

"Rouge," said Sonic, heading towards the bat, "where the heck did you come from?"

"Didn't you see, big blue?" Replied Rouge, "I was flying over the forest. Anyway where's my 'thank you for saving my ass, Rouge'?"

"Oh yeah, thanks" said Sonic, "why are you here anyway?"

"Shadow called," said Rouge, "he said you stormed off after breakfast and was worried about you."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Shadow?" Replied Sonic with a smirk.

"Of course I am," said Rouge, "anyway, he's getting Alexa's room ready and he needs your help. Unless, of course, you'd much rather have your ass kicked."

"Come on, then" said Sonic, calmly, "I'll race you back!"

…

_Unknown temple, location unknown_

After his failed attempt at reverting Sonic back to his dark self, Venice found himself in a ancient temple belonging to the deceased and forgotten God of Time, Solaris. He held up the stone tablet, which glowed dark purple. The marking on the stone tablet was a circle and triangle on top of one another with a what looked like the letter T in the middle, the letter was connected to the rest of the shapes. As he walked through the temple towards an old monument made of Solaris, he saw what looked like raw Negative Chaos Energy drip from the statue's hands. This was perfect. Now Venice can really put his plan into action.

**A/N I hope you guys enjoyed the beginning of Resurgence! This story is gonna be a bit darker than Operation Chaos, so be prepared!**

**please R&R.**

**Sonadow out!**


	2. A Vision of Future Past

Once Sonic and Rouge returned to Hedgehog Mansion, Shadow was immediately told by Rouge that Venice was in the forest attacking Sonic. As Rouge told Shadow the details, Sonic went over to the living room in silence, lying down on the sofa with his face planted in a cushion. He overheard Shadow tell Rouge to keep an eye on him and to not let him leave the building. Great. After Shadow left, Rouge walked to Sonic and sat beside him.

"Sonic," she said sympathetically, "are you okay?"

"Does it matter?" Replied Sonic, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"To me it does," Rouge said, as she gently stroked his quills, "you've had a rough couple of months."

"I did that to him…" Sonic blurted out, "I did that to Silver…"

"Hun?"

"**_Yes you did,_**" Sonic heard Dark say in his head,**_ "it's all your fault!"_**

Rouge, concerned, decided to get closer to Sonic to reassure him that everything was okay. Sonic, however, leapt up and pushed Rouge away.

"I don't want your sympathy!" He shouted, "I don't deserve it. I don't deserve sympathy from anyone!"

He had pushed himself to the far end of the sofa, curling himself up into a little ball. Rouge tried her best to comfort the distressed hedgehog but to no avail. Rouge noticed that Sonic seemed spaced out, like he wasn't quite aware of what was going on in the world around him. The blue hedgehog kept muttering to himself, shaken and distressed, but there was very little Rouge could do.

An hour had went by before Shadow returned, only to find Sonic curled up on the sofa and Rouge nearly in tears.

"Shadow," said Rouge, happily.

"Rouge," said Shadow, glancing over to Sonic, "what happened?"

"I don't know," said Rouge, "he looked upset over seeing Venice and thinks that it's his fault for turning Silver into that thing. I tried to comfort him, but he leapt up and pushed himself away, he said he doesn't deserve sympathy and he wants to…to…"

Shadow walked over to the blue blur, sitting down next to him. Sonic looked up, scared.

"What happened to Silver wasn't your fault. And I know it's not mine either," said Shadow sincerely, "it is all Eggman's fault. He caused all of this, therefore he is the one to blame. Don't beat yourself up over it, okay?"

Sonic nodded. Shadow then walked into the kitchen to get lunch for the three of them.

…

_The next day_

After yet another dream in the dark void (making it 58 times this happened), Sonic found himself in the passenger seat of Shadow's car. They were on their way to Station Square Central Station, to pick up Alexa. The car journey was mostly in silence, since neither hedgehog could come up with anything to talk about. Once they were on the motorway (or highway if you prefer), Shadow finally decided to, yet again, break the awkward silence between them.

"So, have you decided?" Asked Shadow.

"Decided what?" Replied the blue hedgehog.

"To tell Alexa about your weird dreams"

"I'm not telling her."

"She won't laugh."

"Even so," said Sonic firmly, "she's supposed to be on vacation. I don't want to worry her."

"Fine," replied Shadow, "it's your decision, and I will respect your choice."

"Thanks, Shads"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Would you rather be called 'burnt nuggets' instead?"

Shadow couldn't help but smile at the comment while Sonic laughed for the first time in months. It genuinely pleased the ebony hedgehog to see Sonic smile again, rather than angry or upset.

The pair continued their little 'argument' for the rest of the journey, with neither of them taking it seriously. Once they had arrived at the train station, they both calmed down from their laughing whilst walking into said station. The pair managed to navigate the large, opulent station to reach the platform Alexa's train was supposed to be arriving at. They were at least five minutes early.

"Are you going into the back with Alexa, or…?" Said Shadow.

"Yeah, I think I will" replied Sonic.

"You two do seem close," continued Shadow, smirking, "just makes me question why you haven't made a move yet."

"What?!"

"You two talk nearly everyday," said Shadow, "she obviously makes you happy."

"Yeah, so what?" Replied Sonic, red in the cheeks, "that doesn't mean I'm in love or anything."

"It does"

"Doesn't"

"Does"

"Doesn't"

"It doesn't what exactly?" Came a familiar, feminine voice.

Sonic and Shadow turned around to see Alexa standing with her bag and suitcase. She also had her smartphone in her hand as she looked at both hedgehogs with slight confusion.

"It's nothing" said Sonic, "honest!"

"M'kay" said Alexa, "it's so good to see you both again though."

Alexa pulled both of the boys into a warm hug.

"You too, Alexa," replied Sonic.

"Here, let me" said Shadow, grabbing Alexa's suitcase.

"Oh, thanks Shadow," replied Alexa.

The trio exited the station and went into Shadow's car, with Sonic joining Alexa in the back. Shadow then pulled out of the station car park and drove all the way home.

"So how have you guys been?" Asked Alexa.

"Good," Sonic said quickly, "everything's been good."

"Really?"

"Yeah," said Sonic, "Shadow and Rouge are dating, Tails made a new plane and everyone is fine."

"What about you, blue?" Asked Alexa.

"Me?" Said Sonic, "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know," said Alexa, "you seem a little anxious."

"Trust me. I'm fine."

…

"There it is."

Venice had spent the last twelve hours looking for this particular scroll. The temple's hidden library was full of secrets and information about the four Gods and the Novas. Enough for him to find out how to destroy the Light Guardian and assume his birthright as his master's vessel. Of course, without the power of the Dark Moon, the Ritual of Wicked Darkness wouldn't work, but maybe, just _maybe_, the answer was hidden in this scroll; Fate's Seven Nova Commandments. Perhaps this would help him find the missing Darknova Emerald, as well as a way to defeat Alexa for good. With the Guardian out of the way, Sonic would become the Controller again, and things would be going according to plan. He looked at the scroll, deciphering it the best he could, before it was too late.

…

"Home sweet home." Said Sonic.

The trio walked through the mansion's dark oak doors into the hallway. Alexa was amazed by the building's grandeur appearance. Shadow went over to the kitchen to begin making dinner while Sonic escorted the young princess to her room. Her room was fairly close to his own, which made Sonic immediately think that Shadow did that on purpose. Alexa is on vacation, his problems aren't her concern, right? After Alexa dropped off her bags, Sonic gave her a tour of the house, showing her where the bathrooms were, showing her the garden and all around the building, until Shadow called them both for dinner. The trio sat down in the dining room, enjoying the steak pie and mashed potatoes Shadow had made, all the while gossiping about whatever they could think of.

"So, I told him that we were finished on the spot. Obviously he kept denying it but I literally walked in and saw him snogging another girl's face off!" Said Alexa, "I was absolutely fuming. I told him to stay away from me and that we're through. He kept sending messages so I had change my number and file an harassment order!"

"This 'Caden' sounds like an awful person," Sonic said, "how did you fall for someone like that?"

"I don't know honestly," Alexa replied, "he wasn't too bad at the start, but as time went on, he became more of dickhead."

"I'm sure you'll find someone decent soon," smirked Shadow, looking over at Sonic.

"I'm sure," said Alexa, "but I'm not gonna go look for it, I'm gonna let love come to me."

"Fair enough." Said Sonic.

"Anyway," said Shadow calmly, "you are on dish duty tonight, Faker. So if I were you, I'd get started right now."

"Why me?

"Because I've done it for the past week. So it's your turn."

"Nope."

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes"

"No"

"Yes!"

"N- ALEXA!"

While pair were arguing, Alexa had fallen off her chair and collapsed onto the floor. They boys rushed to her aid, with Sonic holding her in his arms.

"Alexa! Alexa can you hear me?!" Called the blue blur as he shook the unconscious hedgehog. Alexa appeared to be unresponsive to Sonic's words.

"She's still breathing," said Shadow, checking her pulse, "she looks like she in a state of comatose."

"How?"

"I don't know!" Said Shadow, "I'm not a medical expert!"

"What's wrong with the word 'doctor'?"

"Is now really the time?!"

"AHHHH!"

Alexa was suddenly bolted upright, awake and panting as if she had run a marathon. The boys were both relived and confused at what had just occurred in the past five minutes. Shadow walked over into the kitchen to fetch a glass of water for Alexa, who was left with Sonic by her side.

"What the heck just happened?" Asked Sonic, still holding Alexa.

"It's nothing serious I can assure you," replied Alexa, graciously accepting the glass of water, "it was just a vision, that's all."

"Wait, visions?" Inquired Sonic, "like visions of the future right?"

"Yeah," Alexa's calm voice told him, "it just happens whenever it feels like it, so it can be quite difficult to know when it happens until I end up unconscious on the floor."

"I guess so," said Shadow, "what did you see, Alexa?"

"It was really weird actually," said Alexa, "there was this weird looking statue of some sort of fallen angel. The statue looked to be over five millennia old at least. It was in this dark room and there was two people there."

"Who were they?" Inquired Sonic.

"One was definitely Venice," said Alexa, "but I couldn't make out the other. It looked a bit _like you Sonic._"

Sonic was in shock at this revelation. He couldn't be him…could it?

"They were muttering something too," Alexa continued, "I couldn't make most of it out but I did hear Venice say something about the Seven Nova Commandments."

"What is that?" Asked Shadow.

"I don't know," said Alexa, "I've heard of it, but I don't know what it is."

"Well I guess we'll have to get the group together and find out, won't we?" Said Shadow, "anyway I'm gonna go and leave you both to it."

Shadow walked into the kitchen, smirking. Sonic then realised that he was still holding Alexa in his arms. He blushed as they both stood up together.

"I'm sorry about that," said Sonic, "I didn't mean-"

"It's okay, Sonic" replied Alexa, "it was…kinda nice of you to do that though."

"Well, uh…no problem!"

"Anyway," Alexa said, picking up her plate, "I'm gonna go shower, if that's okay?"

"Of course!" Said Sonic, as Alexa entered the kitchen.

Sonic walked over to Shadow, who was preparing the sink for cleaning dishes. Sonic stood next to Shadow, arms crossed over.

"What was that about?" Asked Sonic.

"Don't pin that on me," replied Shadow, "you were the one who wouldn't let go. Here!"

Shadow gave Sonic the sponge and went over to the living room, leaving Sonic to clean up.


	3. Team Meeting

Sonic awoke to find himself somewhere else. He wasn't in the dark void anymore, much to his pleasure as he hated it there, but to somewhere slightly more unsettling than the void. He was on a small bit of land with a single tree and sand everywhere. He was also, much to his displeasure, surrounded by an endless amount of his least favourite thing in the world; water.

Sonic looked all around him, even up at the grey skies above, for something that could help him escape. Shadow was right; it is getting worse. Sonic didn't like the foreboding silence that echoed around the area he was in, after all he knew damn well that Dark was just around the corner. Sonic tip-toed closer to the water, fearful but still determined, to uncover why he was here. He looked into the glass like water with unease, only to see his own reflection. It looked exactly like him but…off.

His reflection flashed a wicked smile and grabbed the blue hedgehog by the throat. Sonic gasped for air as his sinister, mirror self pulled him into the now dark waters. Sonic looked all over but his other self was nowhere to be seen. Despite seeing that no one was here, Sonic still felt that someone or something was holding him down into the water…or what _used to be_ water.

The water had turned into a familiar crimson colour that Sonic knew to be blood. He quickly tried to surface, being both shocked and fearful, as he was quickly running out of air. He kept fighting the invisible force until he finally surfaced and hauled himself back to the small island. The endless sea of blood stretched far and wide, tainting the horizon with an eerie red glow that had also replicated itself onto the sky above. Sonic could feel his anxiety increase as he saw Dark pace towards him like a predator.

_**"My my, what do we have here?"**_ Dark said in a taunting voice, _**"is it a morally correct hero? Or is monstrous child with abandonment issues?"**_

"Get lost, Dark!" Shouted Sonic, feeling confident.

Dark howled with his venomous and wicked laughter. He teleported directly in front of Sonic and grabbed the hedgehog by the throat. Sonic gasped for air as Dark's claws dug deeper into Sonic's flesh.

**_"Feeling confident?"_** Said Dark, his malicious voice ringing throughout the area, **_"that's adorable. You really think you can beat me, don't you? We'll see about that!"_**

Dark pushed Sonic's head into the blood, in hopes to drown the blue hedgehog. After about twenty minutes, Dark lifted the weakened hedgehog. Sonic looked directly at the ground, annoying Dark.

**_"Aww, are you so scared that you can't even look at me?"_** Asked Dark, _**"perhaps I should keep goi-"**_

Much to Dark's surprise, Sonic spat out all the blood that had went into his mouth. Sonic, who's muzzle was covered in blood, smirked as Dark tried to comprehend what just happened. The blood was all over Dark's face.

"How's that for 'scared', Dark?" Sonic taunted.

**_"You will pay dearly for that!"_** Replied Dark angrily. Dark pounced on top of Sonic and began digging his claws in Sonic's chest. The blue blur screamed in agony as he remained paralysed on the ground of the small island, his blood all over the sand and on Dark's fingers, which he licked with delight.

_**"When will you learn?"**_ Said Dark, savouring the taste of Sonic's blood, _**"when will you realise that those pathetic mortals are beneath you? If you showed you true self, your real power, perhaps what happened long ago would never happen again. You could have had it all, 'Sonic' so why did you throw it all away?"**_

Sonic backed himself up against a tree. He looked into Dark's soulless white eyes before answering his dark counterpart.

"I don't have to tell you, Dark" replied Sonic, hoping that he will wake up soon, "I am not afraid of you. I don't answer to you, I don't answer to anyone but me!"

**_"Ah, but you see…I am YOU. We are one and the same."_**

"No we are not!"

The ground started to shake. Sonic could only watch in horror as the island sank into the thick ocean of blood.

**_"We are the same. We seek revenge."_**

"I don't."

**_"You do. It's your primal instinct."_**

"No…"

**_"Yes…"_**

"NO!"

**_"YES!"_**

Sonic couldn't say anything back as he sank into the blood. He kept going deeper and deeper.

"NO!"

Sonic woke up in his room, drenched in sweat and panting. He looked all around his room, to find that he was alone. Although after that scream, someone would be on their way. He heard the clicking of high heels coming down the hallway.

_Oh shoot! Alexa!_

Sonic quickly threw himself onto the floor as Alexa timidly opened his bedroom door. Sonic tried to look like he was just awake as the princess approached him.

"Sonic?" Said Alexa, kneeling down, "are you okay? I heard you scream."

"It's nothing," replied Sonic, "I just fell off the bed that's all."

"Really?" Replied Alexa in disbelief, "usually when people fall out of bed they don't scream 'no' like they're being stabbed."

"I'm fine, I swear," said Sonic, lifting himself up from the floor, "when's the gang coming?"

"In about an hour," replied Alexa, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, why?"

"I just get the feeling you're hiding something from me."

"Look," said Sonic, facing the princess, "if there was something wrong with me, I would've told you already. Falling off the bed is no big deal, honest!"

"Okay…" Said Alexa, leaving the room.

Once Alexa had left, Sonic gave a huge sigh of relief. That was seriously a close one.

…

An hour later, the small group of heroes sat in the living room of Hedgehog Mansion, quietly listening to Alexa as she explained what she had seen in her vision the previous night. The group, consisting of Rouge, Amy, Blaze, Knuckles and Tails, were shocked by the startling revelation of Venice's attack in the forest, as well as the events of the vision.

"So, Venice is clearly up to something," said Tails, "but what exactly? He already missed his chance to revive Mephiles."

"Maybe, there is another way of doing it," piped up Blaze, "perhaps he is trying to find a way into the Dark Dimension that doesn't require the Dark Moon."

"I was thinking that as well," said Alexa, "it wouldn't surprise if there was another way, but even if Venice managed to get in to the Dark Dimension, even if he survived long enough to find Mephiles, he wouldn't be able to free him."

"How come?" Asked Rouge.

"The only way to _truly_ revive Mephiles requires that the Controller is present," Alexa sighed, "the Controller is the _only being_ that can bring Mephiles back, there is no way around that, I can assure you."

All eyes went on Sonic, who looked at the floor in despair.

"Are you okay, Sonic?" Asked Knuckles.

"I would be if you all stopped looking at me!"

"Calm down," said Alexa, "unlike last time, we know about the danger. So we are all prepared."

"And in order to stop him, we need to find out what the Seven Nova Commandments are" said Tails.

"Didn't you say you've heard about them before, Alexa?" Said Shadow.

"Yeah," replied Alexa, "I think my mother might know something about them. She was the previous Guardian after all."

"Really?" Said Amy, "so she we'll help us?"

"Of course!" Said Alexa, "and there's only one way to ask her: in Cornidea!"

…

"So, who exactly is gonna meet us here? I don't see anyone." Said Fiona.

The teenage vixen followed her on\off boyfriend through the abandoned town with extreme caution. Whoever was meeting them here was clearly insane, and maybe someone dangerous, but clearly her boyfriend didn't care.

"Aww, c'mon babe," said Scourge, walking confidently down the empty street, "who cares? As long as we are paid, I don't really give a shit as to what I have to do."

"Well, I do."

"Why? Why would- WHO ARE THEY?!" Scourge said, pointing at the group of echidnas in black hoods.

"I would like to ask you the same thing," replied Lien-Da, the Dark Legion's Leader.

"I invited both of you here for a reason," came a dark voice, "so, unless you wish to die, I suggest you listen and do as you are told!"

Fiona gasped as she recognised the voice. Venice revealed himself to the group, his dark purple eyes scanning the crowd.

"And what exactly do you want us to do?" Asked Lien-Da.

"I ask that the Dark Legion head directly to the Kingdom of Cornidea to capture the King and Queen."

"Are you crazy?!" Replied Lien-Da, "that's a suicide mission! Nobody has ever broken in to that castle successfully, let alone manage to enter the country to do so!"

Venice unsympathetically raised an eyebrow.

"I will not ask again!"said Venice angrily. He threw a sharp spear made of Dark energy at Lien-Da.

"I wouldn't have invited you here if you were not capable," said Venice.

"Very well," said a fearful Lien-Da, "we will do that at once."

The Dark Legion left for Cornidea, leaving Scourge and Fiona behind.

"Now correct me if I'm wrong," Venice said, turning to Scourge and Fiona, "weren't you the fox that sided with the Light Guardian?"

"Yeah I was," said Fiona, "you can relax, it was a temporary arrangement. I don't particularly like that princess, so if your plan involves hurting her then I'm game."

"Good," said Venice, "now I have special plan for you two and your little crew."

"Which is?" Asked Scourge.

"Find out any information in regards to Project: Shadow and Sonic's past."

"We're on it!" Said Scourge as he and Fiona left the city.


	4. Cornidea

**_A/N I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter. I've recently moved house and there hasn't been any internet for over a week. Currently doing this via my grandparents internet._**

**_Anyway since it's been a while since the previous chapter, not only is this chapter being uploaded, but tomorrow I will upload a one-shot story that has been in the works for over a year. I hope you're excited!_**

**_Anyway onto the chapter!_**

**_(..)_**

After a fourteen hour flight, (which Sonic had made sure he was awake for all of it) the group finally landed in the Kingdom of Cornidea, only to be greeted by security guards.

"Ah, Princess Alexandria!" Said one of the guards, "you've returned home, for good perhaps?"

"Not today," replied Alexa, "I'm on classified mission right now and I need my parent's help."

"Can you tell me your verification password?"

Alexa whispered something in the guard's ear. The guard nodded and let Alexa through.

"And are they with you, your highness?" The guard asked, pointing to the group.

"Yes, they are," replied Alexa.

"Alright," said the guard, turning towards the group, "now show us your passports and sit your bags and metallic items on the conniver belt, please."

The group, in sets of two, were checked over as the guards looked for anything incriminating on their passports or in their luggage. It was going smoothly until it was Sonic's turn, as he was stopped by the guard.

"Sorry sir, but we can't let you through."

"Why?"

"Your passport has come up on our database as forgery," said the guard, "specifically your name, date of birth and nationality seem to be incorrect."

"Sonic," said Alexa calmly, "did you have your name legally changed?"

"Yeah," replied the blue blur, "and as for the other two, those are right so I don't see the problem."

"Dh'fhaodah sin mìneachadh carson a tha a cheann-là breith agus nàiseantachd ceàrr" said the second guard.

"Tapadh leat," replied the guard, "Sorry about that sir, we didn't know that your name had been changed, you may pass."

The guards allowed Sonic through, although the blue hedgehog was not pleased at the unfriendly stares he received from his friends.

"Don't even think about asking me about it," spat Sonic.

"But-" began Tails.

"Let's not dwell on it right now, shall we?" Said Alexa, interrupting the young fox, "the castle is a fair bit away but since it's nice out, we should walk it."

The group nodded as they headed through the airport and outside. The city was beautiful, with modern skyscrapers and a bustling vibe that seemed welcoming. People of various races went about their business in harmony, with a sense of politeness and happiness in the air. The castle, tall and elegant, stood out as one of the oldest structures in the city.

"This is the capital city," said Alexa, leading the group through the streets, "this city is called Notre, and it's the business capital in this part of the world. This is also where all of our major festivals are held as well."

"This is impressive," said Knuckles, "I thought most kingdoms had old fashioned buildings."

"Oh believe me," said Alexa, "this kingdom is _far_ from old fashioned"

The group walked through the Queen's Square, where a massive outdoor market was held. Thousands of locals were wandering through the market, selling and buying goods all the while a live band was playing on small stage in the centre of the market. The stalls were all coloured in light blue and gold, positioned in vertical lines in the Square. The group wandered through the market, in awe over the products being sold.

"This market is held every two weeks," explained Alexa, "the vast majority who sell goods here have made these products themselves."

"Ooo," said Amy, "please can we have a look around?"

"I don't see why not," said Alexa, "since we are on urgent business however, I suggest that you should be quick about it."

"Right," said Shadow, "you've got twenty minutes. Meet at the stage after that, got it?"

Everyone nodded and walked in different directions. Alexa stood still, looking at the stage with unease. Sonic looked at the stage, seeing nothing but stage equipment and a microphone.

"Hey, Alexa?" Said Sonic, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" said the princess calmly, "it's been a while since I was last here."

"How long?"

"Three years. I was fifteen."

"Oh."

"What about you, though?" Asked Alexa, facing the cobalt blue hedgehog, "you didn't seem okay at the airport, y'know after they questioned you."

"It's nothing," replied Sonic, "honestly."

"If you say so."

"What?"

"I get the feeling that something is wrong," said Alexa, "the way you've been acting, it's not like you. Shadow told me a lot about you before we met, you know."

"Like what?"

"You're outgoing, cocky, passionate, and so much more," said Alexa, "not reclusive, angry and quiet."

"You're right," said Sonic, "after seeing Silver the other day, it's kinda been messing with my head, you know?"

"I understand. It isn't easy-WOAH!"

Alexa jumped as a yellow furred male hedgehog grabbed her from behind. The hedgehog was slightly taller than Alexa, with two long quills draped down the front of his body, the rest of his quills were short at the back. His maroon eyes were filled with laughter as he looked at the startled princess with joy. The hedgehog was also wearing a light blue suit with golden buttons and black shoes.

"Adam what the hell?!" Shouted Alexa, punching the boy lightly in the shoulder.

"Oh come on, Alexa," said Adam laughing, "you should've seen your face!"

"It's not funny!"

"Yes it is," said Adam, "who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Sonic," said Alexa, "Sonic, this is my older brother Adam."

"Nice to meet you, Sonic" said Adam, offering his hand.

Sonic shook it immediately, "likewise."

"So," said Adam, "what brings you back here, sis?"

"Business." Said Alexa, "Sonic and his friends are in a little bit of trouble so I'm helping them out. Y'know, hero stuff."

"Got it." Said Adam, "well I'm taking a walk around here for a bit, just to get out the castle."

"Right" said Alexa, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Anyway, I'll see you guys around," said Adam, "bye!"

Adam walked off, greeting locals as he walked past. Alexa muttered something angrily under her breath as the rest of the group returned, with Shadow, Tails, Amy and Rouge holding bags of shopping.

"Who was that?" Asked Rouge, looking at Alexa.

"My brother," said Alexa, with her back to the group, "anyway we should probably get going."

"If you say so." Said Sonic.

Alexa led the group through the lively streets of Notre, towards the castle where two guards stood outside the gates. Both were holding a lance in one hand and had a sword on them as well. Shadow wouldn't put it past him that both guards had a firearm somewhere. Alexa walked up to the guards, her arms crossed.

"Can I get into my own castle?" She asked, angrily.

"You know the rules, princess" said one of the guards, "you have to be verified."

"Is this not good enough for you?" Asked Alexa, revealing the Supernova Emerald.

"It is but-"

"Look," said Alexa calmly, "I don't want to stay here for very long okay? So let me and my friends in. I'm not gonna blow up my own castle if that's what you're worried about."

"Very well," said the guard, "we are truly sorry for the hold up, Princess Alexandria."

"It's okay," said Alexa, "come on guys."

The group walked into the castle grounds, walking on cobblestone path towards the castle doors, where Alexa's parents stood grandly before them.

The King, Alexa's father, was tall, well-built and overall handsome in appearance. The hedgehog had yellow fur and short, straight quills. His aqua blue eyes looked at the group with sincerity as the walked towards him. The King, much like Adam, was wearing a blue suit of sorts, but it was more regal looking than Adam's, with golden velvet on the suit. His crown, made of gold, had a single sapphire gem in the centre of the crown, cut in the shape of a diamond, like the Chaos Emeralds. Next to the King was his wife, Alexa's mother, the Queen.

The Queen was slightly smaller than her husband, but was still gorgeous in appearance and looked like she had come out of a fairytale. Her crown was in a very similar fashion to that of the King's Crown, but slightly smaller, and more elegant than the King's Crown (it also had more sapphire gems on it). The crown seemed to be attached to a silver veil that covered her long, blonde hair. Her azure blue gown was covered in golden patterns all over it, and she wore long white gloves that accompanied the gown which went all the way to her elbows.

"Hello everyone" said King Clyde.

Everyone decided to show their respect by bowing (in the girls case, a courtesy) except Alexa.

"Hi Mom. Hi Dad" said Alexa flatly.

"It's good to see you again, Alexa" said Queen Mia, "it's been three years."

"I know Mom," said Alexa, "I have my reasons, you know."

"We know," replied Clyde, "anyway let's go inside and show you where you will sleep tonight."

The group entered the grand castle, into a luxurious hallway. The nearby butlers picked up their bags and escorted the group to their rooms, which were on the same floor as Alexa's room. As the group went down a hall on the third floor, Sonic noticed something weird.

There was a draft coming from behind one of the tapestries. The tapestry itself was of a knight in golden armour, with a white cape and a fancy looking sword. The tapestry had something written on it, but Sonic had no idea what it was as it was written in Cornidean. Sonic, making sure no one was around, looked behind the tapestry to find a dimly lit hallway. Sonic walked down the hallway seeing several doors, presumably bedroom doors given the names on the doors.

Adam.

Harmony and Melody.

Alexandria.

He stopped immediately in front of her door.

Unlike the rest, which were in pristine condition, Alexa's door was damaged severely. The door's paint was faded and peeling off. Several dents covered the door, leaving permeant scars on the door. It was stained with something red…something…crimson.

Sonic had several questions. All of which bounced around his head like a ball against a wall. Why was this door destroyed? Why is this all hidden?

Before Sonic could open the door, someone grabbed his arm.

"Shh" whispered a female voice, "if you make single noise, they'll find us."

Sonic nodded as the dark figure revealed herself.

The girl was very similar to Alexa in appearance, except with waist length hair, not dyed, and was slightly smaller than Alexa. The girl was wearing a lavender summer dress and pumps.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before." Said the girl.

"I'm Sonic," he replied, "who are you?"

"I'm Princess Adelaide," replied the girl, "but I'm called Ada for short."

"You're Alexa's little sister, aren't you?"

"You know her?"

"Yeah, I'm a friend of hers."

"Neat," replied Ada, "now let's get out of here quick."

Sonic followed the young princess down the hallway and in front of the tapestry. Ada then quickly hid the passageway from view.

"What was all that back there?" Asked Sonic.

"No idea," replied Ada, "I found it when I was playing hide and seek with my twin brother Sam. My parents don't know that I know of its existence, but my older sister Melody told me to forget about it and not ask questions. I've never managed to open the doors, but I hide down there when I don't want to be found."

"Does Alexa know?" Asked Sonic.

"Probably," replied Ada, "but she's never here. And anytime that she is here my parents-"

"There you are," said Alexa, approaching the pair, "I've been looking for you, blue."

"Sorry for making you worry," replied Sonic.

"Hey Ada!" Said Alexa.

"Hi Alexa!" Said Ada happily, hugging her sister.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Said Alexa.

"Too long," replied Ada, "can you play with me, please?"

"I will, after I take Sonic to his room."

"Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise," said Alexa.

After making the pinky promise, Ada skipped down the hall, singing happily. Alexa then escorted Sonic to his room, as they were only staying for a night.

…

Sonic struggled to sleep that night, with his thoughts all over the place and the omnipresence of those questions from earlier didn't help a bit. He couldn't stop thinking about that hallway. And the doors. Why was Alexa's door covered in red stains? What happened in that room? A part of him wanted to find out.

And oh boy was he tempted.

After another couple of restless minutes, Sonic decided to investigate, in order to put these thoughts at rest. After all, everyone should be asleep anyway.

Sonic tip-toed silently out of his room and down the hall. However, he didn't manage to find the tapestry in the dark, but instead ended up near in the 'living room' in the castle, where three people were having an argument.

"You will go through with this as _planned_, Alexandria," came Clyde's voice, "there is no room for discussion."

"Oh yes there is!" Spat Alexa, angrily, "after tonight I'm leaving, forever. So good luck finding a new heir."

"Alexa, you are the Guardian of Light," came Mia's sweet voice, "the Supernova Emerald _must remain_ within the royal family as tradition. Otherwise, the results could be catastrophic."

"Pfft, what a load of rubbish," said Alexa, "you can't just expect me to listen to you two after everything _you've done to me!_"

Sonic couldn't help but listen in. Maybe it has something to do with the doors?

"That is in the past, Alexandria!" Said Clyde, his temper rising, "why can't you just accept that and move on! This isn't always about you!"

"Permanent scars don't heal, _father_" said Alexa, with resentment in her voice, "unlike you two, I'm stuck with marks that can never go away, I can't just forget about it if I see it in the mirror all the time."

"You wear those bracelets for a reason, Alexandria" said Mia, "it's to-"

"Suppress, not erase" interrupted Alexa, "all the bracelets are is a permanent reminder of what happened. I can't just forget it!"

"Stop being so silly, Alexandria!" Shouted Clyde, "you will become the next ruler of this kingdom and marry the suitor we chose for you-"

"Who is he, a woman beater?" Said Alexa, "a child abuser? If he's not one of those then he's not suitable for this family!"

"Alexandria that's enough!" Came Mia's stern voice.

"This is not up for discussion," said Clyde, "after you assist your so called 'friends,' you will return to this castle and take your place as queen."

"The hell I will!" Shouted Alexa, "I'm leaving here forever! I'm not coming back, end of!"

"Alexandria! Behave yourself!" Shouted Clyde, "those friends of yours will abandon you! Especially after they discover the _real you_."

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Shouted Alexa, "EVEN IF THEY DID, I DIDN'T CREATE THAT, YOU DID!"

Alexa stormed out of the room, Sonic remaining unnoticed by hiding behind the door. The blue hedgehog was literally frozen to the core.

_Did they…torture her?_


	5. A Royal Kidnap

Sonic struggled to focus on anything that morning. After witnessing the argument last night, coupled with the mysterious hallway, his mind was full of unanswered questions about Alexa and her family. Whatever had happened, it clearly had an effect on Alexa, something that she couldn't forget.

He was currently sitting in the dining hall with the group and Alexa's family (they were formally introduced to Melody, Ada and Sam), as everyone ate together. And yet only Sonic was able to feel the underlying tension in the room, between Alexa and her parents. Alexa was on the opposite side of the room as her parents, refusing to meet their gaze. All the while her father, Clyde, was eating his food rather angrily, as if his anger from the previous night carried over into the morning. Sonic was finally brought back into reality as Tails began to speak.

"So, do you know what the Seven Nova Commandments are?" Asked Tails.

"I do, yes," replied Mia, "the Commandments are said to be the basic rules that both the Guardian of Light and Guardian of Darkness are supposed to abide by, as well as their specific roles."

"Is there a copy of them here?" Asked Shadow.

"Unfortunately no," replied Mia, "there are only two copies in existence. One, resides in the Temple of the Four Original Gods. The other, resides within the family that holds the Darknova Emerald."

"Well, we are doomed," said Rouge, "we have no idea where the Temple is. Not to mention the Darknova Emerald has never been seen in years!"

"We are not that fucked, Rouge" said Alexa, who received nasty glares from her parents, "the Darknova Emerald can be tracked down. We can go to the library upstairs, and find out as much as we can there."

"That's a good idea, Alexa," said Clyde, "you can do that after you've all eaten."

"Well I'm already finished," said Alexa, showing them her clean plate, "I'm gonna get started. Sonic is coming with me, aren't you?"

"Yeah?" Said Sonic, unaware of what just happened, "yeah I'm going with Alexa, if that's okay?"

"I don't see why not," said Mia, "off you two go then."

After being dismissed, the pair swiftly exited the dining hall and left for the castle's library, with Sonic nervously following Alexa through the castle. Once the pair had reached the large library, which was completely empty, Alexa locked the door and quickly pinned Sonic against the wall.

"What the heck, Alexa!" Said a surprised Sonic.

"How much of that conversation did you hear last night?" Alexa asked.

"What?"

"Don't lie to me, Sonic!" Said Alexa, "answer me now!"

"Only a little bit," said Sonic, "I haven't told anyone-"

"I know," said Alexa, "I also know you've been down that hallway as well."

"How?"

"I highly doubt that you met Ada by standing in front of that tapestry," continued Alexa, "_I'm_ the reason she knows about that hallway. Plus Ada told me when I asked her about it."

"Okay," said Sonic, "but what's with all the secrecy? What's going on, Alexa? Did they…torture you?"

Alexa hesitated, "not exactly, Sonic. It's…a lot more complicated than that."

"How complicated?" Asked Sonic with a stern voice.

"Very complicated," said Alexa, "how about this; I'll tell you _everything_ if you tell me what's going on with you, _truthfully_. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Said Sonic, "can you let go, please?"

Alexa let Sonic go. She sighed as she tightly crossed her arms and had her back facing Sonic.

"Don't tell anyone about what you've heard and seen, okay? Especially my family," said Alexa.

"Why your family?"

"If you want to suffer, go tell them," said Alexa, "now let's focus on finding that Darknova Emerald."

Alexa unlocked the door and began looking through the library, with Sonic doing the same.

"What is it we are looking for, exactly?" Asked Sonic, scanning the shelves.

"A book with a engraving of a sun and moon," said Alexa, "it's made of leather obviously."

"Is this it?" Asked Sonic, holding the book.

"Yep, that's it," said Alexa, taking the book from Sonic, "over here."

The pair sat at a nearby table, with Alexa skimming through the pages looking for the answer they needed. Eventually, Alexa found the page, and began to read it.

"Okay, it says here… 'the Supernova Emerald, the Guardian of Light will reside in homelands of Light's Creators, Fate and Magic. The bloodline to be chosen to wield the power to defend the world against the evil. In tow, it's sibling the Darknova Emerald, resides in the home of Goddess of Life, where the land is fuelled by the Goddess' life essence. The bloodline to be chosen to wield the power to control Dark energy, to keep evil at bay and to assist the Light Guardian.'"

"The home of the Goddess of Life?" Said Sonic, confused, "where would that be?"

"Legends say Azalea's home was a tropical island that's now know as Arcadia," said Alexa, "okay, that helps, but it's still pretty vague. Hold on a sec."

Alexa turned over a couple of pages before stopping to read again.

"Ah, here we are" said Alexa, "okay this says 'The homeland of Fate and Magic became the Kingdom of Cornidea, with the Royal Bloodline carrying the power of the Supernova Emerald. The homeland of the Goddess Azalea, became Arcadia, with the Rosiemere Family wielding the Darknova Emerald.'"

"Okay that clears some things up," said Sonic, not realising he was really close to Alexa, "I take it we're going to Arcadia."

"Looks like it,"said Alexa, "once we are there, we'll need to get into the records for the birth and death certificates, as well as find out where the family are located in the country."

"Couldn't we look them up on the Internet?" Asked Sonic.

"That's actually a really good idea Sonic," replied Alexa.

The pair smiled at one another as Rouge entered the library.

"Get a room, you two" smirked Rouge.

"Don't need one," said Alexa.

"So, have you found out anything about the Darknova Emerald?" Asked Shadow.

"Yeah we have," said Sonic, "the Darknova Emerald is with the Rosiemere Family, in Arcadia."

"So that's where we are off to next then?" Said Amy.

"Yep," replied Alexa, "now let's-"

"ALEXA!" Shouted Ada, as she ran into the library. The young princess's dress was covered in black scorch marks.

"Ada!" Called Alexa with worry, "what happened?"

"Some people showed up, trying to kidnap Mom and Dad!" Said Ada.

"Ada go hide somewhere with Sam okay?" Said Alexa, "everyone else, let's go!"

Alexa bolted it out of the library, followed quickly by Sonic and Shadow. Everyone else followed as quickly as they could. Outside of the castle, a group of hooded echidnas with guns were fighting the Royal Guards, with both Clyde and Mia trapped in a metal cage.

"Don't waste your energy, princess!" Called Lien-Da, "you are already too late!"

"It's not over yet!" Shouted Alexa.

As she ran towards the Legionnaries, a sword formed in her right hand, bursting into flames as the metal blade of the weapon formed. The fire continued to cloak Alexa's body until red armour was all that was left. Red with gold outlines decked the armour flawlessly as Alexa swung the sword, which burned everything it came into contact with. Clean cuts remained on the Legionnaires unfortunate enough to be in close proximity of Alexa. The Legionnaires also were unable to harm Alexa, as every attack they landed on her didn't even dent the armour covering her. Despite Alexa's involvement, Lien-Da managed to escape with Mia and Clyde, leaving Alexa furious.

"We'll rescue them, Alexa" said Sonic, approaching the red knight, "you have my word."

"I'll hold you to that, Sonic" said Alexa.

"If you don't mind me asking," said Rouge, "what's with the armour?"

"Oh this?" Said Alexa, taking the helmet off, "this is what I can the Fire Knight. It's a part of my fire powers. It is mainly accessed by using the Sword of Burning Flames. I just call it the Fire Sword though. Neither the sword nor the armour can be broken."

"They're unbreakable?" Asked Shadow.

"Yep," said Alexa, the armour disappearing, "I have an ice variant as well, but instead of a sword, it has a lance."

"Nice!" Said Tails.

"We better get to Arcadia soon," said Shadow, "no doubt Lien-Da is working for Venice and they'll be hot on our trail."

…

Venice walked over to the metal cage, approaching the startled King and Queen. He was still waiting for a status report from Scourge and Fiona, who were on radio silence since they left this city. Venice smiled wickedly at Mia and Clyde.

"Ah, it's so nice of you to visit me, your majesty" Venice said, "you've come at a perfect time for me. I wonder, Queenie, if you could explain to me where the Darknova Emerald is in Arcadia."

"I don't know where it is," said Mia, "and I wouldn't tell you even if I did!"

"Bold words," laughed Venice, "but I'm sure your _daughter_ will be happy to hear that you've thrown her under the bus."

"What do you mean by that?"asked Clyde.

"I know her little secret. So unless you two cooperate with me, the world will see her for what she _truly_ is."


	6. Dark's Warning

**_A/N So first things first, there is disturbing content in this chapter, so if you are sensitive to gore, do not read this. You can skip over it, as it will be briefly mentioned in another chapter without much detail okay?_**

**_Anyway, I know this chapter is a bit short but I promise the rest will be longer._**

**_So, with that out of the way, enjoy as Dark mentally scars Sonic. _**

Leaving Cornidea without a King and Queen was eating away at both Sonic and Alexa, as both felt partly guilty for Clyde and Mia's kidnapping. Regardless, Adam promised Alexa he would handle the affairs of the kingdom while the group set off to stop Venice once and for all. Ada was heartbroken to see Alexa leave again, but the Guardian promised she would see them soon. As they left, Sonic and Alexa agreed to clear things up once they had the chance to separate themselves from the group. Once everyone was ready, the group went to Arcadia, the homeland of Azalea.

…

Sonic was not happy at his surroundings yet again. He managed to avoid Dark the previous night due to his restlessness, something that Dark was not happy about in the slightest.

Sonic was in a classroom, something he never thought he'd be in again after…well, what happened years ago. It was just like the one he was in when he was five. The walls were bright and colourful, filled with drawings both he and his classmates drew. The toy box was in the far corner of the classroom next to the clothes' rack, which had several costumes hung up for them to play dress up. The trays were placed in a unit in the far corner of the classroom. Each tray had the name of a student on it, stylised by the students themselves. A sink was at the back of the classroom, were paints were littered across the counter next it, alongside aprons that were hung up neatly nearby. A chalkboard was behind the teacher's oakwood desk. The board had simple math equations on it, as well as the date.

_24th November 3474_

Sonic looked unbelievably nervous after seeing the date. _What is Dark playing at?_ Thought Sonic, _why this day?_

Sonic suddenly realised that he was already at his desk, which was in the centre of the room. He looked down at his desk, only to find it covered in words etched angrily on the wood.

_Loser._

_Pathetic._

_Monster._

_Evil._

_Worthless._

_Useless._

There were thousands of words written on the desk. When Sonic looked up, the class was full of children and their teacher, Miss Morningstar, teaching the kids.

"Now who knows the answer to this question?" She asked the class.

A couple of kids put their hands up. Sonic, knowing where this was going, tried to leave, only to find he was stuck to his chair.

"Ah, how about you, dear?" Said Miss Morningstar, "can you answer this question?"

Sonic sat there in silence, he didn't know the answer in the past, and he sure as hell couldn't answer it now.

"I-I-I don't know," stuttered Sonic.

The entire class laughed at him, it haunting him as even the teacher joined in.

"Aren't you a stupid boy?" Laughed the teacher, "you are that stupid you can't answer a basic math question?"

"Stop it," said Sonic, "all of you…STOP IT!"

SPLAT!

After shouting, Sonic was horrified to see the once colourful and lively classroom become something out of a horror movie. The students, who were all happy and carefree mere minutes ago were now nothing more than bloody, decaying bodies on the floor. Some children were left headless, their heads had exploded leaving bits of it all over the classroom. Others had their bodies explode, leaving organs and other bits all over the place. Their decapitated heads littered the desks, all of them showing only one expression; fear. Miss Morningstar's body was missing both arms and legs, the rest of her was hanging above her desk, her neck had a chain around it. On the chalkboard, _all will pay_, was written in blood.

"I-I didn't mean…" He trailed off. He didn't think he would see this again. He wanted to forget that this had ever happened. _Dark must be enjoying this, _thought Sonic.

And to that, Sonic was right.

Dark walked through the massacre with joy. He kept dipping his filthy claws into the huge pools of blood, and licking his claws with delight. If there was one thing Dark enjoyed more than torturing Sonic, it was the taste of blood.

**_"Thought you could avoid me for one night now, didn't you?" _**Spat Dark, gleefully licking blood off his fingers, **_"You know what happens when you try to avoid me. You get a blast from the past. What a futile attempt at escape, Sonic._**

"Yeah, well" said Sonic, still stuck to his chair, "it's kinda hard to sleep when you know you're gonna be tortured. It doesn't help, y'know!"

_**"Oh, I'm sure,"**_ said Dark, picking up one of the decapitated heads off the desk, _**"it hasn't got anything to do with that princess's secret, or the argument, or the hidden hallway. I thought you knew by now that I can read your thoughts. Speaking of the princess."**_

Dark crushed the head like a melon in front of Sonic, spraying the pair of them with blood.

**_"You won't be telling her about our little meetings, won't you?" _**Dark asked, tilting his head to the side.

"So what if I do?" Said Sonic, "it's got nothing to do with you Dark."

**_"Oh it does,"_** said Dark, his voice growing more dangerous, **_"if you so much as utter a word about our meetings, I swear I'll make you regret it severely."_**

"And what if she figures it out for herself?"

**_"Then I'll kill her,"_** said Dark,**_ "mark my words, Sonic, if she finds out, she will die!"_**

"You won't hurt her!"

**_"Just try and stop me!"_**

Sonic attempted to move but he still remained stuck to the desk. Dark then howled with laughter as he reanimated the dead bodies, all of which homed in on Sonic saying one thing;

**_"If she finds out, she will die!"_**


	7. Finding the Rosiemere Family

Sonic had woken up that morning unsure of what to do. Dark made it very clear that if Alexa found out the truth, she would die. He couldn't let that happen to her, he also couldn't risk anyone else finding out either.

Then there was the deal he made with Alexa yesterday. He desperately wanted to find out what Alexa's secret was, but the only way to find out was to tell Alexa the truth. She clearly hadn't bought his lies before, so even if he came up with some sort of story, she probably wouldn't believe him. He couldn't risk Alexa's safety however, and so the deal would have to be off. He can't let her die, not on his watch.

The group had landed in Arcadia's capital city, Arcadia City late last night. The group then stayed at a nearby hotel for the night. Fortunately for Sonic, he didn't wake up screaming this time around, so no one paid that much attention to him at breakfast that morning. He sat down next to Alexa and dug into his bacon and eggs as the group discussed the next course of action.

"I have a friend of mine who stays around here," said Alexa, shortly after drinking her orange juice, "she knows a bit about the Rosiemere Family."

"Aren't they like, a secret family or something?" Asked Amy, "how would anyone know about them?"

"Well that's the thing," said Alexa, "her family has worked for the Rosiemere Family for decades. Therefore she knows more about them than anyone else."

"Well, we better get started," said Shadow, "before Venice and his goons show up."

The group left the table with Sonic being held back by Alexa.

"We'll talk tonight okay?" She whispered to him.

"Yeah…" He whispered back. Sonic would just tell her later. The most important thing right now was finding that Darknova Emerald.

…

Fiona scoured the room for anything that could prove useful to Venice but found nothing. She had no idea why they were digging up Sonic's past. It makes sense that they would be digging up Shadow's, as it could hold the key to defeating him, but Sonic? What's so interesting about him?

Fiona had met Sonic when he was with the Freedom Fighters years ago. Of course, the pair had went out and she cheated on him but so what? Sonic left the Freedom Fighters years ago with Tails, Amy and Knuckles following him as usual. She always wondered what caused him to leave the Kingdom of Acorn in the first place. Maybe he finally had enough of that princess's bullshit. Or maybe it was something else. Who knows?

Scourge was looking through some old, tattered books in the abandoned facility. The duo had their group, the Destructix seek out Sonic's records from G.U.N. and they found the coordinates of this facility. It was in the middle of nowhere, high in the mountains above Sunset City. It looked extremely run down, with no power and half the building was rotting away due to time. While many of the files were well preserved, as well as a computer which was somehow still running, a fair portion of the records were destroyed. Blood covered the walls like paint, staining what Fiona thought was stainless steel. The metal wall were covered in dents and holes, presumably from some sort of being or machine. The whole place looked like it had been ransacked, with anyone in the room at the time being killed by whoever was in here last. Fiona was brought back to reality by Scourge, who was holding a medical record.

"Hey, Fi you might wanna take a look at this."

…

The group headed towards the city's biggest library, in hopes of finding the information needed on the Rosiemere Family, as well as meeting Alexa's friend.

"Okay so I'm gonna warn you," said Alexa, "but please, don't ask her about her family history."

"Why?" Asked Rouge.

"Well, first it's just flat out rude," said Alexa, "and second, it's because she's a half demon."

"What?!" Said the group in unison.

"Relax," said Alexa, "you've got nothing to worry about, honest!"

The group finally reached the library, where a yellow hedgehog with a three foot long high ponytail was waiting by the steps. Her hair was dark red and she also had dark blue eyes to boot. She was wearing a black leather outfit, with a matching leather jacket and black biker boots to match. She had two daggers on either side of her waist and a pistol stored under her jacket.

"Hey, Noelle!" Called Alexa, waving at the red-haired hedgehog.

"Hi, Alexa," replied Noelle, walking over to greet the group, "welcome to Arcadia."

"Guys, this is Noelle," said Alexa, "Noelle, this is Sonic, Shadow, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Amy and Blaze."

"Right," said Noelle, "anyway let's go inside and I'll tell you what I know."

The group walked inside the large and fancy library, following Noelle to a table on the far side of the library.

"This place is the most isolated place in the city," said Noelle, "the last thing we need is to be overheard."

Everyone sat down at the table, with Sonic sitting the furthest away from Alexa.

"Okay, so you guys wanna know about the Rosiemere Family?" Asked Noelle.

"Yeah," said Knuckles, "where are they?"

"The Rosiemere Family live in the Duchess Woods, a forest near the town of Violetbridge." Said Noelle, "Violetbridge is next to the Arcadia River."

"So, why has no one seen the Darknova Emerald in years?" Asked Shadow.

"The Rosiemere Family, unlike Alexa's, believed that the emerald and its powers were a curse," said Noelle, "I don't know the true reason why they believe that, but they usually neglect the child that has been chosen by the Darknova Emerald. Hence why nobody knows anything about the Darknova Emerald, they don't show it off in the same way as the Cornidean Royal Family."

Only Sonic noticed Alexa mutter something viscous under her breath, as the rest of the team discussed how to find the home of the Guardian of Darkness.

…

_Later that night._

The group had decided to travel to the remote town of Violetbridge that day. The town itself was gorgeous, so much so that Amy tried everything in her power to get the group to stop and shop, (Noelle had scolded her for wasting time, only then did she finally give in and stop asking) as they made their way to Duchess Woods. It was late but the group was determined to reach the home. After all, the end result would be Silver's return, which they all desperately wanted.

Sonic and Alexa were at the back of the group, (which was being led by Noelle) to discuss what they had agreed to speak about back in Cornidea. Sonic realised that he couldn't go through with the deal, not with Alexa's life on the line.

"Alexa," said Sonic, "I'm sorry but…the deal's off"

"Why's that?" She asked bluntly.

"I can't tell you," he said truthfully, "because-"

"Because your dark self threatened you by saying that if you tell me, I'll die?" Interrupted Alexa.

This took Sonic by surprise.

"How do you know that?" Asked Sonic.

"Believe me," sighed Alexa, "_you weren't the only one._"

**_A/N I wonder what you mean by that, Alexa!_**

**_Anyway I've posted an update on my profile, so check it out when you've got time okay?_**

**_Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter!_**


	8. The Truth is much Darker than you Know

Sonic did not expect Alexa to say that to him. She looked at him with empathy as they duo walked through the dark woods, a fair bit away from the group. Sonic had several questions, but decided against asking her loads of them at once. For now, he remained silent. Alexa sighed before continuing on.

"Of course, nothing is gonna happen to you if I tell you what happened," she said, "as for you, I can take on your dark self, I've done it before so I can do it again."

"If you're sure," replied Sonic, "so how exactly did you get…your Dark?"

"First off, she doesn't like being called Dark," said Alexa, "she calls herself Ruby. I have no idea why, but she wants to be called that. I call her Dark sometimes to piss her off. She really doesn't like it."

"I'm surprised," said Sonic calmly, "mine likes being called Dark."

"Yeah, it surprised me at first," said Alexa, "anyway please promise me that you won't tell anyone. I don't want anyone else knowing."

"Of course, I won't tell," replied Sonic, "it's not my place to tell anyone your secrets."

"As it is not my place to tell yours," replied Alexa, "I don't remember when it started. I was really young, like three or something, when it started, I think. You see, it's not normal to have more than three powers. It's extremely rare to get four powers let alone getting seven! Getting five or more is impossible, so you can kinda imagine my parents surprise when they found out.

My powers kicked in when I was about three. I nearly burned my bedroom down and froze the locks on the doors. I was…out of control. I would black out when stuff like that happened, solely because my powers were that potent they knocked me out. This all happened while the kingdom was at war with the neighbouring kingdom. My parents were under a lot of stress and I wasn't helping matters, so they picked out a childminder to take care of me.

While it may have been a good idea in theory, in practice it was a disaster. You see, this childminder was, in fact, a spy from the Darkness Legion, a group that worships and serves Darkness, a evil entity. The childminder tortured me. He beat me, stabbed me, drag me by my hair and locked me up in this small cupboard. It made me claustrophobic, and I will never forgive my parents and my siblings for allowing this."

"Wow," said Sonic, "clearly they do not know how to raise kids."

"Yeah," Alexa replied sadly, "that's not even the half of it. I'll tell you the rest later on, if that's okay? Just talking about it is giving me horrible flashbacks."

"That's fine, don't worry about it," Sonic said, "I might as well keep my end of the bargain."

Sonic sighed as he tried to figure out where to start.

"Dark showed up about a month after the court case. He would always show up in my dreams, just to torture me. He loves to torture me. And eat blood. Anyway, if I somehow managed to avoid him for a night, like a did the night I overheard you and your parents arguing, he would show me memories of my past, which is not a good thing."

"I take it your past isn't any better than mine?"

"Yep."

"You should've told me before," said Alexa, "I could've helped you."

"That would've put you in danger," said Sonic sternly, "when Dark says he's gonna kill you, he means it. I didn't want you to get killed."

"I understand," said Alexa calmly, "you're really sweet, to be thinking about everyone's safety despite it resulting in your suffering."

"Yeah, well I want what's best for my friends."

"Right guys, we're here!" Came Noelle's voice.

The group stopped outside a mansion made of bricks and covered in vines. The mansion looked smaller than Hedgehog Mansion and appeared to be older than Hedgehog Mansion too. It was a very old fashioned manor that had a plaque on the right hand side of the doorway reading 'Rosiemere' and the doors made of strong oakwood. The garden was covered in several crimson roses and was very well organised. Noelle opened the metal gate.

"You might as well go first, Alexa," said Noelle, "chances are they'll listen to you. Otherwise they'll slam the door in your face."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Noelle" replied Alexa, as she silently walked down the stone path.

The princess knocked twice on the opulent oakwood door, the sound echoing throughout the structure as the group stood outside the garden, on the other side of the crumbling cobblestone wall. The cool night's breeze passed the group by as they patiently waited at the front door of Rosiemere Manor. A few minutes had passed before Alexa heard high heels move ever closer to her from inside the house. They could hear the door being unlocked and it swung open.

A imperial purple hedgehog opened the door, her dark green eyes sternly looked at Alexa before briefly looking at the group. She appeared to be in her late sixties and wore an old fashioned dress (a Victorian style dress) with her dark purple hair tied up in a stiff and uptight bun. She looked directly at Alexa's necklace after surveying the group, looking extremely unhappy.

"What are you doing here, Guardian?" Said the woman with a strict voice.

"I'm looking for the Darknova Guardian," said Alexa flatly, "it's urgent."

"I am sure it is," said the women harshly.

"I'm serious," said Alexa with an equally stern voice, "I'm not here to waste your time."

"And what is so urgent, may I ask?"

"The descendant of the God of Darkness is trying to release him from the Dark Dimension, and is looking for Seven Nova Commandments which you have in your care. So yeah, it is quite urgent" Alexa replied with sass.

"Mind your tone with me, young lady!" Said the woman sternly.

"Sure," said Alexa, "they're with me, by the way."

"I gathered that," said the woman, "Noelle, I thought you were told to keep this manor a secret."

"I know Minerva," replied Noelle, "but this is a serious matter that shouldn't be ignored."

"True," sighed Minerva, "very well, but please make it quick Guardian, I would like to go to bed some point tonight."

"I promise it won't take long," replied Alexa, "thank you um..?"

"Mrs Minerva Rosiemere," replied Minerva, "and your name?"

"Crown Princess Alexandra of Cornidea," said Alexa, "but you can just call me Alexa if you want."

"Very well, Alexandra" said Minerva, "allow me to take you to my grandson, he is the current Guardian."

Minerva welcomed the group into her rather old fashioned home with the lamps on to light the front hall, as Minerva lead the group to a secluded room on the second floor. She knocked on the dark oakwood door twice, with urgency.

"Nathaniel! Open the door!" Called Minerva sternly.

The door swung open to reveal a dark purple hedgehog with black fur on the end of his short quills. He wore a dark red leather outfit with black boots. His somber dark cyan eyes looked at his grandmother with slight unease.

"Yes, grandmother?" He said, his deep voice echoing around the claustrophobic walls.

"You have some visitors," replied Minerva, "including Princess Alexandra, the Guardian of Light."

"Oh," replied the Guardian looking slightly happier, "well, come on in!"

"I'll be with all of you shortly," said Minerva, "I am going to collect the scrolls."

Minerva walked off quickly as the group went into the boy's room. The room was covered in dark colours and had several posters of movies plastered over the paint. A desk, covered in books and stationary, sat on the far side of the room. A four poster bed sat opposite the wardrobe. The window above the desk was open.

"Well, I'm Nathaniel but you can call me Nathan," the boy said, as he lead them to a separate section of his room, where a large glass table with several chairs were.

"Well, I best leave you guys to it," said Noelle, "after all, I've got work to do tomorrow."

"Is it that thing Carlos was on about?" Asked Alexa.

"Yeah," replied Noelle, "if anything thing comes up, I'll let you know."

"Okay"

Noelle swiftly left the room, much to Nathan's disappointment. He sighed as he sat down at the end of the table opposite Alexa.

"So, why did you come to see me Alexandra?" Asked Nathan, with curiosity in his voice.

"Because this is serious business, nothing more than that," she replied, "and you can call me Alexa."

"Oh, alright!" Said Nathan quickly, "sorry, I'm not…used to talking to people."

"We've heard," said Rouge,

Minerva returned carrying several scrolls. She sat elegantly in the spare seat as she carefully placed the scrolls on the table.

"I'm sure you know what you are supposed to do with the emerald, Alexandra?"

"Yeah," Alexa replied, "I know what I'm expected to do."

"Well, that's what four of the commandments are about," said Minerva, "two are the instructions for the Supernova Emerald, and the other two are the instructions for the Darknova Emerald. The remaining three commandments are, to put it simply, the drawbacks of the emeralds and their Guardians."

"So the Guardian's weaknesses?" Questioned Rouge.

Minerva nodded, "Nova Commandment Five: The Guardian of Light cannot be within close proximity of Pure Dark Energy, as it will corrupt the power of the Supernova Emerald, and effectively throwing the universe into an unbalanced disorder.

Nova Commandment Six: The Guardian of Darkness cannot be exposed to Pure Light Energy, nor can they be exposed to the Divine Blade of Light. Should this occur, the universe will be thrown in disorder.

Nova Commandment Seven: The Supernova Emerald and Darknova Emerald cannot be destroyed, if it is destroyed then the Guardian of their respective emerald will lose their life as forfeit."

Everyone sat there in eerie silence.

"So, if the emeralds are destroyed…" Began Sonic.

"Alexa and Nathan will die" finished Shadow.

"That is correct," said Minerva sombrely, "the emeralds choose their Guardians because of their specific abilities and qualities. Although I am not aware of the actual requirements."

"I see," said Alexa quietly, "so that must be what Venice is after."

"I doubt that," said Amy, "it's too much even-"

"Venice cannot accomplish his goals while Nathan and I are around," interrupted Alexa, with a serious tone in her voice, "nothing in these Commandments are useful to him, outside of the last three!"

"And even though the emeralds give us tremendous power," said Nathan, "it has its limits and one wrong move can prove fatal. There is very little one can do if either emerald is shattered."

"It won't come to that," Sonic said suddenly, "no one here is gonna die that's for sure!"

"You cannot guarantee that," said Minerva, "you should know that more than anyone, Controller."

Much to everyone's fright, Sonic slammed his fist on the table.

"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME THAT AGAIN!" He shouted angrily, "OR I SWEAR-"

"Calm the fuck down, Sonic!" Yelled Alexa, grabbing his hand and massaging his hand soothingly.

Sonic stared at Minerva angrily and with resentment. However, his anger did began to slip away as Alexa continued to hold his hand in hers. Sonic didn't want to admit it, but he was enjoying it, a little bit anyway.

"How do you know that?" Asked Shadow, changing the subject, "how do you know it's impossible to repair the emeralds?"

"Because that's what happened to my mother," said Nathan, tearing up slightly.

"You don't have to tell us," said Alexa quickly, "it's none of our business. We shouldn't of asked." Alexa shot Shadow a nasty look as she said that last part.

"It's fine," said Nathan, "anyway what are you guys gonna do next?"

"Easy," said Knuckles, "we track down Venice and stop him once and for all!"

…

Minerva had allowed the group to stay that night, so they were very well rested for their journey the next day. After all, finding Venice wasn't gonna be easy so Alexa had requested that the UNSD try to at least find any information about his whereabouts as soon as possible. Alexa had also asked Nathan to join them on their journey, to which he happily accepted (though Minerva had made Alexa promise he would return safe and sound). The group then decided to look through Arcadia City's archives to find more information on the mythology behind the emeralds and Mephiles before calling it a day and crashing at Noelle's place (she had not returned from her mission but allowed them to stay there anyway). As night fell over the bustling city, Sonic found himself seeking refuge on the roof, unable to fall asleep because of Dark's constant snides (she's gonna die~ she's gonna die~). However, he was surprised to find Alexa sitting there, crying softly into her arms.

Sonic was unsure of what to do. He wasn't the best when it came to this kinda thing, particularly with girls. He opted to play it safe and walked over and sat next to the sobbing princess.

"Hey, Alexa" Sonic said with unease, "what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Alexa sniffed, unable to hold back her tears, "it's something stupid."

"I doubt it."

"What *sniff* makes you say that?"

"It's upsetting you," said Sonic calmly, "it doesn't matter whether someone thinks it's stupid or not, if it's bothering you then I'm gonna take it seriously."

"You're right," Alexa replied, tears continuing to fall down her face, "it's just…this whole thing…everything that's happened…it's brought back some *sniff* unwanted memories."

"Is it that stuff you told me earlier?"

"Some of it is yes," answered Alexa, "but the rest…is stuff I haven't told you yet."

"If you want to talk about it," Sonic said, holding her tear-soaked hand "you can, whenever you want, okay?"

"Can you do right now, blue?" Said Alexa, "I want to *sniff* get it off my chest now."

"Sure," replied Sonic, "I'm ready when you are."

Alexa looked over at him, wiping away some of her tears.

"It all started to get worse after the childminder was arrested…"

**_A/N So sorry for the delay. I've been catching up in my new school so I've been busy with that. I should have the next chapter up soon, which will reveal the rest of Alexa's backstory!_**

**_Sonadow out!_**


	9. Alexa's Story

_**A/N Another chapter already? Man, I'm spoiling you guys!**_

_**Just to be clear, the italics is Alexa from the present. Also a warning: this chapter contains torture and child abuse. It is not super descrptive like Chapter Six's gore section so don't worry.**_

_**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**_

_Once that bastard got caught and arrested, I thought that it was all over. I thought I would be able to live a normal life, playing outside, going to school and so on, but that day never came. It didn't get better. In fact, you could say that their curiosity got the better of them. It blinded them._

April 12th 3475

Alexa woke up to the sound of a fist hitting the door as she leapt out of her blankets. The six year old knew what the sound meant and ran directly for her wardrobe, which was about the same size as her massive bedroom. She was careful not to trip over the broken toys that were thrown around her room, if she made a single sound they would find her. And this day might be her last.

She hid in a box that was filled with old, tattered clothing that was supposed to be removed two days ago. She had made sure that she had buried herself completely as she peered through a small hole in the box, praying to the Lord Tidus himself, that she wouldn't be found.

She heard the door creep open with an eerie sound as a pair of heavy footsteps traversed around her room slowly, looking for her. She could hear his heavy breathing as he walked towards her bed, pulling back the covers and muttering the word 'shit' under his foul breath. She could hear her possessions being destroyed as he looked for her relentlessly, like he was a bloodthirsty lion looking for the sweet, innocent rabbit to kill. She steadily held her breath, trying to calm the endless tsunami of anxiety and fear she felt in that moment. She tried to steady her heart as he approached the wardrobe, whispering callous words under his breath in their native language. Her flight or fight response kicked in, and Alexa tried to make it go away. Otherwise, her powers would activate and reveal her location. She stayed extremely silent as he picked up the box she was hiding in, and moved it near the exit of the wardrobe. As much as she wanted to escape she couldn't, she would get caught once she reached the stairs, not to mention she didn't want to risk it.

The man opened the box and pick Alexa up, tightening his grip as she struggled in his arm. She clawed at him, punched him weakly and bit him as he took her out of her bedroom and down to the Royal's private labs. Alexa began crying relentlessly as the man, who couldn't believe he was forced to do this, took the little girl to a pure white room, with a single lab table and what appeared to be a giant needle with laser lights on it.

_I know that what he did was wrong, I know that. But he had no choice, he had a child, an infant to feed, and therefore he was willing to do anything to make the money necessary to feed and provide for his child. But that doesn't mean he lacked any sympathy._

The man gently placed the sobbing child on the chair, and promised her that she would get some new dolls to play with afterwards. It didn't stop Alexa's crying, but he didn't what to do as he was forced out of the room.

The machine then whirred to life as she struggled against the shackles that locked her in place, as the needles slowly advanced towards her. She cried even harder as it finally reached her cheats and the lasers activated.

Alexa let out an ear-piercing scream as the lasers did what the needed to do. What was only minutes felt like hours for the princess as her cries and screams echoed around the room, begging for the torture to stop.

_It was their curiosity that blinded them. Their desire to discover why I was the way I am consumed them. They did not care that I was only a little girl. They did not care that I was needing help to control my powers. They did not care about the dangers involved in messing around with my powers. It did not come up as a concern for them._

Alexa could feel her powers acting up again, for she felt that she had fire pouring into her veins, it now spreading throughout her body like a plague, ready to burn everything. Destroy everything. She watched helplessly as the world around her, her reality, was falling apart. All she could see was red flames, piercing and melting everything in sight with a beautiful, purified red colour that almost seemed to have hypnotised the young princess. She was in a trance like state when the ferocious fire finally burst through the glass, engulfing the scientists in flames. Alexa's body went limp as she collapsed from exhaustion, leaving her surrounded by charred bodies and fiery flames.

_I didn't want to hurt them. Even though they hurt me. I wanted them to stop, it was the only thing a remember crossing my mind when it happened. I just wanted the pain to stop. And yet, I couldn't stop myself from inflicting pain onto others._

A week later.

After more rigorous torture at the hands of the scientists, Alexa was finally allowed to go downstairs with her siblings. She was escorted to the living room by the man again, (who had given her a new doll set for her to play with) and she sat down next to her older brother Adam, hiding the scorch marks on her arms from them. Mia then cam into the room, avoiding Alexa's gaze and instead focusing on her three children, Clyde did the same as he entered the room.

"Now then," said Mia, "the time has come for the Supernova Emerald to choose its new Guardian."

"Whoever becomes the next Guardian will become the next King or Queen of this kingdom." Said Clyde.

"One at a time, each of you will touch the emerald," said Mia, "if it burns you, you are not the Guardian. If it doesn't burn you, then you are the Guardian."

Mia placed the beautiful gemstone on the table in front of them. Alexa gazed into the emerald with awe. She could've sworn she had heard a voice come from the emerald but shrugged it off anyway, it was probably her powers being weird again.

Adam went to grab the emerald, and once he laid his fingers on it, it glowed brightly as it scolded him.

Harmony and Melody tried but the emerald had burned them as well.

Then something unusual happened.

The Supernova Emerald moved itself towards Alexa flinging itself onto her lap. Alexa looked at it surprised as her parents looked at her in disbelief. Adam then decided to change the mood.

"Well it looks like you're the new Guardian Alexandra," he said, "congrats!"

_Despite what I have done before, the emerald chose me. Me! I…I couldn't believe it, but it literally moved towards me and landed on my lap. Adam was the only one who was genuinely happy with me being the Guardian. My sisters hated me for it. And as for my parents, well, it only fuelled their desire to find out why I'm so…different._

Two months later.

Alexa was sitting at her desk, crying her little heart out as she bandaged he own wounds. The testing today ended with her left arm getting sliced open, and so they sent her back to her room, gave her a bandage, and left her to figure the rest out for herself. The Supernova Emerald say there, glowing calmly, giving Alexa a sense of calmness as she tried her best to tend to her wound. It was extremely painful, but she persevered through it anyway. The emerald then surprised Alexa by doing the last thing she thought it would do.

"Hello, Alexandra"

"Who said that?!" Said Alexa as she jumped.

"I'm the Supernova Emerald." The emerald said, "I have a simple request for you Alexandra."

"What is it?" Asked Alexa, looking directly at the emerald.

"I want to to make a vow." Said the emerald, "vow that you will always protect this world, no matter what happens."

_When the emerald told me that, I didn't know what to say. I wasn't aware of the dangers involved with being the Guardian of Light. But it did give me something…_

"Is a vow like a promise?" Asked the young princess.

"I suppose it is, yes," said Supernova.

"I promise." Said Alexa, with a smile on her face.

_It gave me a goal. A purpose. A reason to escape._

Four days later

Alexa once again found herself crying as she was strapped down to the lab table again. She begged them to let her go but this time something was different.

Her parents were there, watching them do this to her.

They were letting this happen.

She had never felt more betrayed in her life. Alexa screamed as the lasers began poking around her powers. She felt like she was on an endless carousel of agony as they continued to do their work like soulless monsters. Her screams continued…

Until something woke up.

Alexa's screams became less agonising and more angry as a thick cloud of dark mist surround Alexa. She was then knocked out as she felt someone else take the wheel.

In a matter of minutes, the scientists in the room were brutally murdered as the once innocent and kind-hearted six year old howled with a wicked laughter that sent chills down Mia and Clyde's spines.

_Only when they had awoken a dark force did they realise what they had done. But it did not bother them at all in the long run._

Before it could attack them, Alexa's lifeless body dropped to the floor, her shadow now completely gone. Mia ran over to her daughter, crying Alexa's name hoping she would be okay.

_I don't remember what happened to the scientists that day. I don't remember it at all. It happened so fast. One minute I was enduring the torture as usual, and then the next thing I know, they are dead._

The next day.

Alexa was locked in her room. This wasn't an unusual occurrence by any means but no one came to see her, or feed her all day. She felt so alone and distressed that she was practically hugging the only thing she had; the Supernova Emerald.

The Emerald always made her feel calm and happy. When it spoke to her, she learned of the many things that outside world contained. And she so badly wanted to leave.

She didn't care about anyone anymore. She just wanted to leave.

_I was left to starve. No one came up to see me till late that night, when my mother came in with a small sandwich and twelve bracelets._

"Alexandra, what happened yesterday," said Mia, "it wasn't your fault. But please, whatever you do, do not remove these bracelets."

"Okay, mother" said Alexa.

The bracelets were placed on her right wrist. After Alexa ate her sandwich and her mother left, Alexa fell asleep. She sleep soundly until she found herself in a dark and sinister throne room.

Sitting on the throne was someone who looked exactly like Alexa, but with a dark red bob for hair and dark red eyes. She had fangs and sharp claws that could be seen from her black fingerless gloves. She laughed wickedly as Alexa approached.

**_"Welcome to Hell, princess!"_**

_That was the first time I met Ruby. She said she is the manifestation of my anger and pain. It is what fuels her power. She cannot use mine however. Regardless Ruby has made it a habit of torturing me, but also persuading me to let her loose. She cannot harm anyone as long as those bracelets are on my wrist._

_Shortly after my seventh birthday, I ran away from home. It had gotten to the point where I couldn't take it anymore. *sniff* they ruined my life before it started. They *sniff* created Ruby and damaged my confidence. I was done with them completely. I ended up joining a mercenary group called The Underground, who raised me and took care of me before I joined in the war against evil._


	10. Predator and Prey

Alexa continued to cry as Sonic sat there in shock. He had no idea that Mia and Clyde were so cruel towards their own daughter. It all finally began to make sense to the blue hedgehog as he moved himself closer to Alexa, who was crying harder than before, and put his arm around her. She flung herself into his arms, as he hugged her tightly with care and compassion. He was perfectly happy to be her shoulder to cry on. And he was completely happy to support her in anyway possible. The two remained quiet as the sun went down, and Alexa's tears began to fade away.

"I'm so sorry," she said with a broken voice, "I'm sorry for putting all of this on you."

"Shh, it's okay," said Sonic in a soothing voice, "I don't mind this at all. I'm here for you. Anytime you feel like crying or just letting it out, come find me and I'll help you, I'll be you shoulder to cry on."

"Thank you, Sonic…" Alexa said quietly. She buried herself into Sonic's fur as it suddenly began to snow a little around them.

"I'm sorry about the snow," she said, "it happens after I've been crying…"

…

It was nearly ten o'clock before Sonic and Alexa decided to go back inside, to find that everyone was fast asleep. Alexa yawned as she walked towards Noelle's room. Sonic walked towards Shadow, who was snuggled up with Rouge on the sofa, and drew a moustache on Shadow's muzzle. He chuckled lightly as Alexa sorted out Noelle's bed.

"Noelle said I could sleep on her bed," said Alexa, who regained much of her composure, "I don't think she'll mind if you slept in it too."

"Me?" Said a surprised Sonic, "me and you, in a bed together?"

"Well, yeah" said Alexa, "there isn't anywhere else for you to sleep. And besides, I don't mind, just give me a sec to get changed."

Alexa closed the door, leaving the door ajar, to get changed. Sonic's cheeks went as red as Knuckles at the mere thought of sleeping next to Alexa. He began to think that Shadow was, once again, right; he was beginning to fall for the princess.

Sonic jumped a little as Alexa opened the door, revealing her in a pink tank top and grey pyjama trousers. Her short hair was done up in a messy bun for bed and she gestured to Sonic to come in.

Sonic walked into Noelle's room, which had a huge double bed and a tall mirror on the wall. When Sonic walked past the mirror, he could've sworn he had seen Dark make a death gesture before pointing towards Alexa. Sonic ignored him, knowing damn well that Alexa could handle herself. Alexa jumped into bed as Sonic took off his shoes and gloves, before hopping in himself.

"Well, this is cozy," he said, causing Alexa to smile.

"Yeah," she replied, "you would've thought that we were having a night out, rather than on a mission to save the world."

"Yeah, well what else is new?" Said Sonic, "saving the world is pretty much how I spend my time."

"Same here," agreed Alexa, "except I've got loads of paperwork to deal with."

"Well, the only paperwork I come across is insurance costs for all the damage that's caused in my fights with Eggman."

"Lucky you," Alexa said in a sarcastic tone.

"I know right? I've got the best luck in the world!"

The pair laughed, the two looking over towards one another with happiness.

"Thanks for comforting me tonight," said Alexa, "I needed to get all of that of my chest."

"It wasn't a problem," said Sonic, "and anyway, it would've been cold hearted of me just to leave you like that."

"True," said Alexa, getting ever closer to Sonic, "you are a very kind hearted person. You truly care for those around you, and I have to admit that I admire that about you."

"You're quite inspirational yourself," said Sonic, smiling, "you've went through so much, and yet you do everything in your power to protect others."

"I'm flattered," said Alexa, blushing "I want to able to use these powers for something positive, rather than not bothering to use them at all."

"That's a good mindset to be in," said Sonic, leaning in.

"Yeah, maybe it is…"

Alexa trailed off as the pair kissed one another passionately. Their eyes closed as their lips locked, and the pair began to enjoy the time they had. After about five minutes the pair ended their kiss, both looking at one another with surprise and embarrassment.

"I-I didn't-" stuttered Sonic.

"It's okay, that was on me-"

"No that was not your fault," said Sonic, "I leaned in first."

"I…enjoyed that."

"Really?"

"Yeah," said Alexa, "I really did, did you?"

"Yeah…yeah I did," admitted Sonic.

"Good," said Alexa, "we should head to bed."

…

Once again, Sonic was back in Dark's dreaded clutches. He was now in Dark's castle, where the entity resided in Sonic's mind. Sonic was in the torture chamber as Dark approached, licking blood of his fingers slowing, savouring the taste.

**_"I warned you, did I not?"_** Said Dark angrily, _**"I warned you. Yet you still went ahead and told the little brat. But…at least you gave me some….leverage against her."**_

"Leverage?"

**_"Oh yes" _**said Dark gleefully, **_"that sob story of hers. She's in so much pain. And this Ruby can prove to be useful in orchestrating her…downfall."_**

"You won't get a chance to hurt her," said Sonic, "if I have anything to say about it!"

**_"Getting defensive now are we?" _**Smirked Dark,**_ "I'm surprised. She just admitted that she killed innocent people as a child. And she wouldn't hesitate to kill you if it came to it."_**

"You're lying!" Shouted Sonic, "she's not like that anymore!"

_**"And how would you know? You never know what goes through her fucked up head!"**_

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sonic roared at Dark. The entity was a little startled but kept his composure.

**_"It is true,"_** said Dark,**_ "just because she kissed you, doesn't mean she genuinely loves you. Tch, who would ever love you anyway…Monster,"_**

After that statement, Sonic tried to attack Dark viscously, only to be knocked back by Dark's telekinesis.

**_"See? You are exactly what I say you are. A feral beast. An uncontrollable Monster. Nothing more than that."_**

Sonic picked himself up, only for Dark to grab the blue hedgehog by the throat.

**_"I will dispose of that princess so there is no more distractions. She will no longer be a threat. You cannot stop me."_**

Sonic gasped for breath as Dark's grip tightened.

…

Sonic woke up gasping for air. He panicked, before realising where he was. He checked the nearby alarm clock, which said '6am'. Sonic looked over at Alexa, who was still asleep, but seemed to have been startled by Sonic's gasping. He lied down on the soft bed again, which reminded him of the time he woke up in Alexa's bed five months ago, three days after the Dark Moon. The more Sonic thought about the incident, and circumstances on which he and the others had met Alexa, the more he had come to realise that Eggman wasn't really the one to blame for kickstarting all of this. He was really the one to blame. He had fit the criteria as the Controller perfectly, so he couldn't blame Eggman for taking advantage of this. Dark was also to blame, but the difference was Eggman is behind bars whereas Dark was still very much free to do as he pleases.

After spending a bit of time in the bed, Sonic decided to get up and get washed, Noelle shouldn't be too annoyed by someone using the shower. He swiftly entered the bathroom without waking anyone else. He turned on the shower and hopped in, the water soothing him. He felt very calm, unlike where he was a few minutes ago. His thoughts then went back to last night, and the kiss he and Alexa shared. Amy wasn't going to be happy, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. He liked being around Alexa, and thoroughly enjoyed her company, more so than anyone else. And he wouldn't be surprised if she felt the same way. She confided to him, she leaned on him for support. In his mind, why would she if she didn't like him? A part of him thought he was probably being delusional but he couldn't just ignore how he felt about her. Was it love? He had no idea.

Sonic then hopped out of the shower and dried himself with a towel. He looked at the mirror, taking note of his messy quills before the reflection changed to Dark, who's razor-sharp teeth formed a gruesome and wicked smile, his blank white eyes staring at him. Sonic jumped back in fright.

**_"She is going to die, and it's all your fault!"_**

Sonic angrily lashed out and smashed the mirror. In doing so, he had cut a few of his fingers on his right hand.

"Whoa! What happened in here?!"

Sonic turned around to see Alexa, still in her pyjamas, looking surprised at the blue blur.

"Alexa! I-I…"

"Relax," said Alexa calmly, "I'll fix the mirror, no worries."

Alexa quickly whipped out her wand, (a blue and purple stick with two silver orbs on each end) and pointed it at the mirror.

"Quod accidens fit, quae conteram reficere obiectum bonus novus est!"

Just like that, the mirror was fixed, back to the way it was before Sonic smashed it.

"What happened?" Asked Alexa.

"I saw Dark," said Sonic quickly, "in the mirror. Last night he told me that he's…planning your death and that its my fault because I told you about him!"

Alexa went over to Sonic, holding his injured right hand.

"It's not your fault," she said in a calming voice, "I knew the risks but pushed anyway. He can try all he wants, but he won't get far."

"How?"

"Remember when I said I was the descendant of the Fire and Ice Elemental Masters? Well, the fire and ice powers are often called fire and ice defenders because they react to danger without my consent. If I was asleep or unconscious, they would protect me from danger."

"So it could stop him?" Asked Sonic.

"Yeah," she replied, "besides I can handle him. Now let's deal with your hand."

Alexa pulled him out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom, where she found Noelle's first aid kit. Alexa cleaned the wounds and began to bandage them up.

"So what do we do now?" Asked Sonic.

"Once the others are awake," said Alexa, "we'll be heading to Christmas Island."

"Why?"

"Because the UNSD managed to track Venice there," said Alexa, "I have no idea why though."

"Yeah," said Sonic, "no idea."

…

_Abandoned facility, Christmas Island._

Fiona stood outside the old building, awaiting Venice's arrival. She had no idea when he was going to arrive but she hoped it would be soon. The sooner they were out of his employ the better.

What was in the medical record genuinely haunted Fiona. The record was of a young hedgehog who was an orphan brought here because of his Chaos Energy levels. What followed in the report was absolutely insane, as both physically and mentally the boy was scarred and dangerous. He would be able to kill people so quickly and quietly, you wouldn't even know what was going on until you were dead. It terrified her.

She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts by Venice, who had just arrived. The vixen lead Venice into the facility to Scourge, who was holding the record.

"You've got to see this," said Scourge, handing the folder to Venice, "if you don't mind, I'm gonna go look for more information on him."

"Please do," said Venice, reading the file, "this is exactly what I am looking for."

…

Once everyone was awake and fed, the group headed out into the city, to begin making their way to Christmas Island. The group were all chatting with one another lightheartedly.

"So what's going on between you and Alexa?" Asked Shadow.

"What?! Nothing!" Said Sonic quickly.

"Oh really?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah it does," said Shadow, "you two were on that roof for a long time last night, what were you doing up there?"

"Talking," said Sonic

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Okay," said Shadow, "whatever you say-Sonic are you okay?"

Sonic's hands went straight to his head as he felt sharp pains spread all around his body. Shadow and the others backed away as an aura of Negative Chaos Energy swirled around Sonic like a tornado. Sonic screamed in agony as the energy became thicker and more potent. The last thing Sonic heard before blacking out was Dark's evil voice.

**_"It's my turn!"_**

As the energy died down, the group stood there in shock as Sonic was replaced by a black furred hedgehog with empty white eyes and sharp teeth and claws. The being's shoes were scuffed and covered in blood, which was the exact fashion the gloves were in. A ring of black flames surrounded the entity, with the group on the opposite side. Alexa stood there, not afraid mind you, looking at the entity with hatred.

**_"Alexa, the end has come for you."_**

"Am I right in saying that you're Dark?" Asked Alexa, with not a shed of fear in her voice.

**_"Yes, I am Dark."_** Replied the entity, _**"your time is up, princess."**_

There was very little she could do. Of course, Alexa couldn't just do nothing. Her friend was trapped inside that thing. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing.

So she did something.

While everyone else was still trying to register what was going on, Alexa jumped through the flames and went towards Dark.

"Dark," she said, "you should've known by now that you have lost. Why be so persistent?"

_**"Because,"**_ said Dark with a wicked smile, **_"I haven't lost yet!"_**

Alexa quickly activated the Fire Knight as Dark threw a dark blast of energy at Alexa. The armour remained undamaged as Alexa drew her sword and attacked the entity, leaving burn marks behind. Alexa had came to the realisation that this tactic wasn't working, and tried something else.

Flurries of ice blasts hit Dark quickly, freezing his body. Dark tried to shatter the ice as Alexa picked up a car using her psychokinesis and threw it at Dark, who destroyed it. Alexa then went behind Dark and kicked him. Once Dark was down, Alexa tried to use the Supernova Emerald to bring Sonic back, only to be pinned down by Dark.

**_"I must admit that you can certainly put up a good fight, Alexa" _**said Dark, **_"it's such a shame that I have to kill you now."_**

Before Dark could kill Alexa, a fiery being that looked like a dragon quickly pushed Dark off Alexa, who heard something break. Noting that it wasn't her bones that broke, she set off after Dark and subdued him with help of the dragon spirit. Nathan quickly created a gap in the flames as Shadow took over for Alexa, keeping Dark pinned down as she used an incantation. Dark then shouted, "this is far from over!" as Sonic appeared in Dark's place, gasping for air.

"Are you alright, Sonic?" Asked Rouge.

"I think so," said Sonic. His eyes did not leave Alexa's right wrist as he said that.

He did not know how it had happened, or what exactly Dark was trying to do, but it happened.

Alexa's bracelets were broken.


	11. Suppress and Erase

"Alexa, are you okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, Sonic!"

"I'm just making sure," he said calmly, "I hate to think that Dark had hurt you."

"I know," said Alexa, with her arms crossed, "I'm not hurt. I just feel…exposed."

"I know the feeling," said Sonic, who caught Knuckles glaring at him angrily, "that's kinda how I feel right now."

The group were walking to Venice's location on Christmas Island, with the rest of the group feeling on edge due to Dark's appearance earlier that day. Sonic wasn't fussed about the dirty looks some of his friends were giving him, instead focusing his attention onto Alexa, who didn't seem quite herself after the fight.

"Dark is aware that Ruby probably won't help him, right?" Said Alexa.

"She won't?"

"Nope," Alexa replied, "Ruby doesn't want the same thing as Dark. Ruby's whole shtick is manipulation and revenge. To get that revenge, she wants the whole world at her feet, to be the 'Queen' of the world. She's extremely deceptive and loves to mess with people's minds."

"So, let's say she does take over," said Sonic, "how would I know?"

"Easy," said Alexa, "if I cast a shadow, even if it's nearly nonexistent, I'm in control, if not then it's Ruby."

"Got it," said Sonic, "let's just hope it doesn't get to that."

"That's what I'm hoping for," said Alexa, "I don't know how long it'll last though."

"It should last long enough to stop Venice right?"

"I doubt it."

"How?"

"Once Ruby finds out the bracelets are broken, she'll show up and start her whole revenge plan. No doubt the others will notice and ask questions."

"I think that's gonna happen anyway," said Sonic sadly, "after Dark's stunt earlier, it might be best if we both came clean."

"Maybe," said Alexa, "but I don't want to tell them the whole story. It's too painful."

"Relax," said Sonic, "just tell them about Ruby so if she does show up then everyone is prepared."

"You're right," said Alexa, "and maybe Tails can take look at the bracelets to see if him can fix them."

"Knowing Tails," said Sonic smiling, "he can fix them."

…

Rouge felt really uneasy after leaving Arcadia. It didn't take a genius to know that Sonic was hiding something. And then there was Alexa's case. For that thing to go after Alexa, she must of have done something to piss it off. But even Rouge could see that both hedgehogs were getting…oddly attached to one another.

She wouldn't put it past her that Alexa was hiding something too. It would make sense, since they arrived in Cornidea she had been acting almost defensive in a way. She seemed to speak to Sonic alone more often than anyone of them would of liked but now, she was sensing that something was wrong with Alexa.

Rouge quickly walked up to Shadow and pecked him on the cheek.

"Shadow can I ask you something?" She asked.

"Sure."

"Do you think Sonic and Alexa are hiding something?"

"Sonic? Yes," said Shadow, "Alexa, well maybe."

"What do you mean maybe?"

"There has always been something off about her," said Shadow, "I wouldn't put it past me if she was hiding something. The thing is, we don't have the time right now to question them. Silver's safety is more important."

"What about our safety?" Jumped in Knuckles, "we can't save Silver if we aren't safe."

"Calm down, Knuckles!" Said Rouge.

"Well, he's right!" Piped up Amy, "I bet she's hurting my Sonic!"

"And what of Sonic's secrets?" Said Nathan, "he's to blame as much as Alexa!"

"All of you shut up!" Shouted Alexa, walking towards the group.

The group stopped and stared at Sonic and Alexa as they approached, Alexa looking rather irritated. She sat down and made a campfire as the sun dipped below the horizon.

"There is no point continuing in the dark," said Alexa, "now instead of talking behind our backs, whispering your conspiracy theories to one another, why don't we all sit down and have an informed discussion like adults hm?"

Her voice sounded agitated and cynical, almost as if she was going to blow a fuse on the group. Shadow was the first to sit down, followed by Rouge. Once everyone was seated, Alexa sighed before continuing.

"What attacked me back there wasn't Sonic," said Alexa calmly, "that was Dark. He is the person that orchestrated the majority of actions that Sonic took five months ago."

"What do you mean?" Asked Blaze.

"Dark is an entity that had been born from Sonic's negative chaos energy. When Eggman pumped more of that energy into Sonic, it had boosted Dark's power, and the two were nearly fused with one another, which lead to Sonic's core being split in half."

"What's a core?" Asked Nathan.

"A person's life force in its most concentrated form," said Alexa, "since I reversed the process, Dark no doubt wants back out, mainly because he wants Sonic to be the Controller. As for me, I have my own, who calls herself Ruby."

"Ruby?" Said Shadow.

"Yeah," said Alexa, "Ruby is a bit like Dark, but more manipulative and deceptive than Dark. She usually isn't a problem because of these bracelets, which act as an inhibitor stop Ruby from interfering with me, but Dark managed to break them in the fight."

"So there's a chance that we're gonna have to fight Ruby," said Rouge.

"Yeah," said Alexa, "unless these bracelets are fixed."

"Let's have a look," said Tails, going over to sit next to Alexa.

"So that explains the secrecy," says Knuckles.

"Pretty much," said Sonic.

"And those nightmares for the past five months," said Shadow, "were Dark, weren't they?"

Sonic nodded. The group looked at one another, unsure of what to do. They decided to get some rest before they leave at dawn, to stop Venice.

…

Scourge and Fiona slept quietly on the floor, with Venice still searching for the missing records of the child. If this was who he thought it was, then he could use this information to force Sonic into compliance, and make him take his place as the Controller. After all, his plan won't work without Sonic.

He had everything ready to go, the stone tablet was in its slot and the Chaos Emeralds were placed in the appropriate pillars for the portal to open. From there, Sonic would manually remove the pure Light Energy chains that held Mephiles in place. And he would offer himself as his master's vessel. As for the Nova Guardians, he had leverage against them.

Mia and Clyde were still in his possession, refusing to rebel against him for the safety of their children and their kingdom. And as for the Guardian of Darkness, well it wasn't like Venice to _not_ bring a souvenir from Arcadia home. He practically had both Guardians wrapped around his little finger.

Venice continued to scour the room, before rotten stench passed him by. It was foul, and sickening to the point that Venice nearly threw up. It was coming from behind a rusty filing cabinet. Fiona, who could also smell the deathly smell, walked over to Venice, disgusted.

"What is that smell?" She asked, pinching her nose, "eww it's horrible!"

"Did you two not notice the draft coming from behind this cabinet?" Venice asked, looking at the decayed cabinet.

"Well, no," said Fiona, "we didn't come over here because all the papers and stuff were on the other side of the room."

"Come on," Venice said, pushing Fiona towards the cabinet, "let's move it."

"Whatever you say," replied Fiona, choosing not to argue with the dark hedgehog.

Both Fiona and Venice moved the heavy, decayed filing cabinet to reveal a bashed in door. Venice cautiously pushed the door open, with the decaying, rotten smell engulfing the pair.

"What the hell died in here-oh fuck!" Said Fiona.

Venice had flicked the light on, which had revealed about eight dead bodies, their rotten flesh still decaying after all these years. Brown lab coats covered most of the bodies, with one body wearing a military suit reminiscent of Commander Tower's GUN uniform. The bodies closest to them were very much intact, with the three bodies near a huge machine being completely torn apart in the most gruesome way possible.

The machine in question resembled a dentist's chair, incased in a metal box of sorts. The lid of this box was open, and the metal was rusted and corroded beyond belief. Very little of the silver metal remained. The leather on the chair was withered and decayed, very much like the bodies around it. Dried blood, that was years old, stained the leather and the lab coats of the scientists. The blood coated the once pristine white tiled floors, staining it effortlessly. Fiona nearly threw up, causing Venice to roll his eyes. It kinda liked looking at the carnage in front of him.

"What happened in here?!" Said Fiona with shock.

"Looks like they were experimenting on him," said Venice, walking through the massacre, "obviously it didn't work out well for the pathetic bastards. He must have had enough and killed them all as he escaped."

"Who's him?" Asked a hesitant Fiona.

"Sonic the Hedgehog."

…

It was nearly dawn when Sonic woke up. He was still being subjected to Dark's torture, this time being forced into a lake filled with blood, but it was nothing new. As horrific as it all was, Sonic found himself becoming desensitised to the gore and bloody violence Dark was showing and forcing him to be apart of.

He noticed that Alexa was missing as he sat up and surveyed the group, worried about her safety. He became slightly paranoid as he went out and looked for her, Ruby could've taken control by now. Maybe Venice had kidnapped her? Was she hurt? His mind was racing. Where was she?

He heard someone shout as he approached a clearing not far from the group. It was here that he found Alexa, struggling as she held her left hand, which had a black fingerless glove on it and razor sharp nails that resembled Dark's claws, but painted black.

"Ugh, Ruby knock it off!" Shouted Alexa, as she struggled for control.

**"No! Never! I. Want. Out!"** Shouted Ruby, her callous voice echoing around the forest.

Sonic remained hidden behind a nearby tree, watching the events unfold. He didn't know what to do aside from waking up the others, but that would just complicate things. He watched as the struggle died down, and Alexa became still. He walked over to her cautiously as she collapsed on the ground.

"Alexa!" He yelled with worry as he picked up the princess.

He checked her shadow, which was still very faint, to which he gave a sigh of relief. Ruby hadn't managed to escape, _yet_. Alexa's eyes fluttered open as Sonic had her in his arms, and he didn't want to let go.

"I'm guessing you saw that, huh?" Said Alexa, clearly exhausted.

"Yeah," said Sonic, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted."

"What did you do?"

"I used up a fair amount of my energy to suppress her," said Alexa, "it won't last long, but it's all I can do."

"She really wants out, huh?" Said Sonic.

"Really badly," replied Alexa, "but I can't let that happen."

"Believe me, I won't let it happen either." Said Sonic.

He picked Alexa up and walked towards the group again.

"They're still asleep," said Alexa, as Sonic put Alexa down, "and it's dawn, we need to go."

"Alone?" Said Sonic, "what about them?"

"I'll leave a note," said Alexa, writing a letter to the group, "they can follow once they wake up. Come on, let's go."

The duo quickly ran in the direction of the base. After about ten minutes, they arrived at the withered and decayed building. As Alexa approached the door, Sonic stayed very still. He never thought he would come back here. The plaque on the right hand side of the door read 'SPECIAL AGENTS TOPAZ SECURITY UNIT'. He never wanted to see that plaque again. And all occupied his mind was Dark's sinful snickers.

_**"The past will always find a way to reveal itself."**_


	12. One Nova Down

Alexa turned around to see Sonic standing extremely still, lost in his thoughts. She wondered if being here, on this island, had something to do with his childhood. After all, Sonic never spoke of his younger years, not with Tails. Not with Shadow. No one. She wanted to know why, why he never spoke or had seen his parents in years. The fact that he didn't know if they were alive or dead had became a concern for her.

As much as she despised her own parents, she couldn't bring herself to ignore them for years. She genuinely couldn't. There was still a part of her that had a childlike ignorance towards them, and was willing to forgive them. But she knew that she couldn't. She can't forget what happened, especially with Ruby pestering her and demanding her freedom.

She could feel Ruby crawl around her body like a spider, and it was more than unsettling. She tried to shake it off as she approached the blue hedgehog, who was still in a daze.

"Sonic. Sonic. Earth to Sonic!" She called as she waved her hand in front of him.

Sonic blinked a few times as he shook his head. He quickly regained his composure as Alexa placed her hand in his own hand.

"Sorry I just…zoned out a bit." Said Sonic.

"I could tell," said Alexa, "but we need to go in here. I can sense Venice's dark aura, he's still in the building. We can end this, get Silver back. And after that-"

"We won't see each other again," said Sonic, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I wouldn't say that."

"But it will happen."

"It won't, no matter how busy I may be."

"I'm not sure."

Alexa kissed Sonic on the cheek. The blue blur's cheeks turned bright red.

"Fate works in mysterious ways," said Alexa, "I'm confident that we'll still see one another, after all I've taken quite the liking to you blue."

She held his hand as she pulled him towards the building, and the pair pushed open the rusted doors. This lead to an eerily dark hallway with a horrid stench being carried by the mouldy air passing the duo through.

"Aw, that fucking stinks!" Said Alexa, pulling her collar up to cover her nose.

"Tell me about it!" Said Sonic, using his hand to cover his nose.

"What fucking died in here?!" Said Alexa, pressing on.

_**"You should know, Sonic"**_ came Dark's voice,**_ "you know what you did in here."_**

Sonic mentally told Dark to shut up as he followed Alexa down the hall, and into a room where Fiona, Venice and a green hedgehog were standing.

"Well, speak of the devil," said Venice, turning his attention to the duo, "Sonic and Alexa, how nice of you to drop by."

"Give it up Venice! It's over!" Said Sonic, in his fighting stance.

"I'm sure it is, Controller," said Venice, a wicked smile on his face, "after all, I don't think the Guardian of Light would be helping you after finding out the truth."

"Oh really?" Said Alexa, arms crossed, "and what exactly is the truth?"

"Why don't you see for yourself, Princess," said Venice, gesturing towards the door, "that's where the rotten smell of decaying flesh is coming from."

Curious, yet still cautious, Alexa walked into the room, much to Sonic's dismay. Venice, Fiona and Scourge smiled wickedly as Alexa stood there, taking it all in.

"So, it looks like you've been defending a psychopath this entire time," said Venice, putting his arm around Alexa, "and he never told you. Last time I checked, it's your job to stop these types of people, isn't it Alexa?"

"Alexa, I can explain!" Said Sonic. He tried to walk over to Alexa but his path was blocked by Fiona and Scourge.

"No need," said Alexa, turning to face him, "I understand."

Alexa caught Venice off guard as she roundhouse kicked him into a wall. She then used her psychokinesis to launch both Fiona and Scourge into the wall as well. Venice then picked himself up and shot a energy blast at Alexa, who responded by dodging it, and sending a flaming hot fire blast in his direction. Sonic, meanwhile had the unfortunate courtesy of fighting both Scourge and Fiona at once, using his spin attack when possible and dodging most of their blows (they ended up hitting each other, not Sonic). Eventually the individual fights stopped, with Fiona, Venice and Scourge completely covered in cuts and bruises and burn marks (courtesy of Alexa) and the duo only had a few bruises but nothing of major concern.

"So you're still gonna defend that psycho huh?!" Said Venice.

"I'm not defending anyone," said Alexa, "I'm doing what I can to stop you and keep the world safe!"

"With him?" Said Scourge, "I doubt it!"

"You'll see, Alexa" said Venice menacingly, "you'll see how much damage he can really cause."

Venice, alongside Fiona and Scourge teleported away, leaving the two hedgehogs alone.

"Alexa, I can explain-"

"Explain what?" She snapped, "explain why you killed those people? Explain what happened in here? Because it's a bit fucking late for an explanation Sonic!"

"I didn't think I needed to tell you!" Replied Sonic, his temper rising, "I didn't think you cared!"

"Of course I did!" She said, her temper also rising, "I wouldn't of stood up for you in court if I didn't care! I wouldn't of helped Shadow and the others save you if I didn't care! I wouldn't be checking on you if I didn't care! I thought you trusted me!"

"I do trust you!" Shouted Sonic.

"You have a funny way of showing it!" Shouted Alexa, "I trusted you with my past and yet you don't trust me with yours?!"

"It's too painful for me to discuss!"

"Oh, like it wasn't painful for me to discuss mine?!"

"You're a hypocrite!"

"You're a liar!"

"You're the liar!

"OH REALLY?!"

"YES, REALLY!"

"And to think I was falling in love with you!" Blurted out Alexa.

"You, what?" Replied Sonic, confused.

"You heard me," said Alexa, "I'm falling in love with you. Though you've made it pretty clear that you don't feel that way about me."

Alexa began to walk off, only for Sonic to grab her arm gently.

"Wait," he said calmly.

He quickly pulled her in for a kiss, with her both surprised and slightly happy at the event. After the two pulled away, Sonic took Alexa's hands in his own.

"I'm sorry for hiding the truth and shouting at you," he said, "I…I do feel the same way. Honest."

"I'm sorry for shouting at you too," said Alexa, "but I'm still angry with you."

"I know, I know," said Sonic, "and I'll make it up to you. Whatever you want."

"The truth would be nice." Said Alexa sternly, crossing her arms.

"I'll tell you about it," replied Sonic, "preferably when we can get a bit of privacy."

At that moment Shadow had arrived, holding his nose at the smell.

"I've been looking for you," said Shadow, "what happened?"

"We found Venice, Fiona and her boyfriend Scourge and kicked their butts," said Sonic.

"Well, you clearly didn't do it hard enough," said Shadow, "he's attacking the group right now, trying to take the Darknova Emerald!"

…

Nathan fired several dark blue energy beams at Venice, who erased them and fired his own dark purple ones. Nathan could not rely on the others, who were far too busy dealing with a female fox and a green hedgehog. He had no idea why anyone would side with Venice, but he couldn't focus on that right now. He had bigger problems at that very moment.

Venice had shown up out of nowhere after everyone had woken up. Sonic and Alexa where nowhere to be seen, but a note was left by Alexa stating that the pair had went off to the abandoned building alone. Shadow had ran off to find them, assuming they were still there. Venice had made it clear that he wanted the Darknova Emerald, presumably so he could destroy it, and Nathan wasn't going to let that happen.

Venice continued to throw a barrage of Dark Energy at Nathan, with only a few hitting the poor hedgehog. Nathan retaliated by firing several energy blasts, distracting Venice long enough for Nathan to get up close and personal.

Nathan swung at Venice, hitting the dark hedgehog in the face. He then roundhouse kicked Venice in the chest, followed by a uppercut and a kick to the face. Venice, whose nose had burst open, staggered back, angrier than before. Venice then channeled a large amount of negative chaos energy into his fist as he swung at Nathan, hitting the Guardian in the gut. After having the wind knocked out of him, Nathan dropped to his knees as Venice went over and grabbed Nathan by the quills.

"You really thought you could outwit _me_, Guardian?" Spat Venice, pulling Nathan's quills, "well just you wait. Once I've got that Emerald, I'll make you watch as I kill your grandmother Minerva!"

"No!" Shouted Nathan, "I won't-AHHHH"

"Don't you dare answer back!" Growled Venice, "You and Alexa will fall. Sonic will be my master's Controller and I, Venice, will be his vessel. That is how Mephiles wishes it to be. And no pesky Guardians are going to stop me!"

Nathan screamed in pain as Venice threw him into a tree. He could hear his arm crunch as it was smacked against the hard oakwood tree. Venice went up to the defeated Nathan like a predator. Nathan froze, knowing that no matter what he did, he was screwed. He closed his eyes, awaiting death…

But it didn't come.

Nathan opened his eyes to find a blue and silver knight holding Venice back using their lance. He could see the angry in Venice's dark purple eyes as the knight moved Venice away from Nathan and let the hedgehog go, putting themselves in between Venice and Nathan. Blood trickled down Venice's body, from both the burst nose and massive cut on his arm. The knight held their lance in position, ready to attack. Suddenly, Sonic came up from behind Venice and kicked the hedgehog towards the knight, who used their lance to freeze him in solid ice.

"Who…?" Trailed off Nathan.

"Ice Knight, at your service," came Alexa's voice from within the armour.

She gave out her hand to help Nathan up, who was cradling his broken left arm.

"Sorry we're late," said Sonic, punching Scourge in the face, "we had a little thing to do first."

"Better late than never," said Nathan.

Venice quickly broken out of the ice, and teleported away with Fiona and Scourge. Nathan quickly searched himself, panicked.

"What's wrong Nathan?" Asked Alexa, her armour disappearing.

"The Darknova Emerald," said Nathan, "it's gone!"

…

"It wasn't a complete loss, however." Said Venice, holding up the Darknova Emerald, "scold me all you want, you stupid rock, it won't stop me from smashing you to pieces."

The Darknova Emerald, a dark blue gem with dark purple smoke coming off it, continued to scold Venice's hand, glowing even brighter as the temperature went up.

"Fine then!" Said Venice, putting the Emerald in a airtight box, "don't you think you're getting out! Your Guardian won't be able to find you!"

Venice sat down on his stone throne, rubbing his temples. _At least I've got the Guardian of Darkness at my mercy,_ thought Venice, _now all I need is the Supernova Emerald and Alexa will be no more!_

"Venice," said Lien-Da, walking towards her 'employer', "is there anything else that you want the Dark Legion to do?"

"Obviously you fool," he snapped, "I need you to get the Supernova Emerald off of Alexa."

…

"I can't believe this," said Nathan tearfully, "I've lost the Darknova Emerald and Venice has my grandmother! I really screwed up!"

"Nathan, keep it together," said Alexa, grabbing Nathan's shoulders, "we still have a chance to stop Venice and get your Emerald back!"

"And how do you propose we do that?" Asked Rouge.

"I put a tracker on Venice when I had him trapped with the Ice Lance," said Alexa, "it looks like he's in…huh, some remote island not to far from here."

"Let's see," said Tails, taking the device from Alexa, "okay I've got it, let's go!"

The group quickly began making their way to the island, which Shadow prepping his Chaos Control for crossing the water. As the group headed towards the shore, Alexa's shadow had disappeared.

**_A/N So that's us about halfway through the story, and it looks like Venice has Nathan at his mercy! And Sonic's past is about to be reaveled! I'll try to get the rest up the chapters up soon, at least before my Prelims! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and see you in the next one!_**

**_Sonadow out!_**


	13. Ruby

Shadow had just finished using his Chaos Control, teleporting the group to the remote island's shore. The island itself was quite large, yet not apart of any country or kingdom. The group looked at the dense woodland in front of them.

"So, we've got trek through that?" Rouge said, looking at her heels, "oh when I get a hold of Venice-"

"You'll what?" Whispered Alexa, in Rouge's ear, "you'll _kill_ him?"

"No!" Said Rouge, shocked, "obviously not!"

"Then what would you do?" Said Alexa calmly.

"I'll shout at him but that's it!"

"You'll shout at him for ruining your _lovely shoes_?" Said Alexa, "I doubt he'll take you seriously after that."

Alexa walked off, leaving Rouge alone with her thoughts. As they all began to trek through the dense forest, Shadow had Alexa approach him.

"What a classy move, _Shads_," said Alexa, nudging him slightly, "dropping us off at the beach, making Rouge walk through this jungle. She is not happy."

"We are on a mission to save the world," said Shadow, "her shoes are the least of my concern right now."

"What?!" Said Rouge coming up from behind them.

As the two began to argue, Alexa walked ahead with a small smirk on her face. Suddenly, she was pulled aside by Sonic.

"What do you want?" She snapped at him.

"Why did you cause that argument?" Asked Sonic.

"I didn't-"

"Don't lie," said Sonic, "I watched you. Look, I get you're angry, but there's not point in driving a wedge between Shadow and Rouge."

"You're right," said Alexa, clearly sorry, "I apologise. I won't do it again."

"Good," replied Sonic, "now let's continue."

…

Venice carefully read over the scroll, memorising its contents. If what was in this scroll was true, then his plan would fail if Alexa kept that emerald any longer. And he could not afford to fail again. He wouldn't allow it. He continued to read the scroll.

_Tidus wanted the Guardians to be well prepared to combat Mephiles. The Guardian of Light more so, as it is their responsibility to protect the world from him. Therefore, the God of Fate instructed the immortal craftsman Mercuris to create a weapon capable of killing both Dark beings and Gods. The Sword of Divine Light, Mistletome, can kill Mephiles in one swift strike, only when in tandem with the Supernova Emerald. There is nothing that can destroy the divine weapon, as the weapon itself sleeps in the passageway into Fate's realm. _

Venice had no idea where this passageway is, but as long as he had the Supernova Emerald, Alexa would not be able to live long enough to kill his master, let alone find Mistletome.

Venice placed the scroll down, clearly stressed but not about to crack under the pressure. Lien-Da was taking her Legion to collect the Supernova Emerald. Fiona and Scourge were currently resting, though Venice considered sending them to go after Sonic. After all, he did drive a wedge between Sonic and Alexa, as well as Alexa's bracelets being damaged. Now that was a good thing. Alexa can keep them all occupied and break Sonic to the point that he would become the Controller.

…

As night fell over the island, the group decided to stop, mainly for rest and to help Nathan with his broken arm. As the group had settled on the bank of a small river, Sonic became increasingly suspicious of Alexa. Her behaviour had changed in a matter of minutes, becoming more callous and manipulative. Sonic was slightly paranoid, he believed that Ruby may have taken over already. If so, then that was another problem he had to fix. He found Alexa a fair few metres from the group, muttering something quickly and angrily. As Sonic approached her, she quickly turned around, surprised.

"Oh, Sonic!" Said Alexa, "don't startle me like that!"

"Relax," said Sonic, "what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been causing fights amongst the group!"

"No I haven't," said Alexa, facing Sonic, "I haven't done anything wrong after you told me to stop!"

Sonic could feel something…off about Alexa. It was the same, uneasy, dark aura that he felt five months prior.

"Okay, but I don't like this new behaviour," said Sonic.

"Whatever!" Said Alexa, walking off.

Sonic decided not to follow her, she probably wanted to be left alone. He turned his attention to Nathan, whose arm was getting patched up by Rouge.

"I still can't believe you attacked him like that!" Said Rouge, with a small smile, "I didn't think it was possible for Venice to get hurt like that. Where did you learn how to fight?"

"You mean hand to hand combat?" Replied Nathan. Rouge nodded as he continued, "my uncle is in the Arcadian military, so while he was on a holiday at home, he taught me how to fight in case I needed to get in up close. My grandmother always prioritised ranged combat though."

"Maybe she prioritised it to keep you safe," replied Rouge, "its slightly easier to avoid ranged attacks than normal up close ones."

"That sounds about right," said Nathan.

"If you don't mind us asking," said Sonic, sitting next to Rouge, "what happened to your parents?"

"Well, as I've mentioned before," began Nathan, "my mother was the previous Darknova Guardian. After she had given birth to me, she was called into action. During one of the battles, one demon had managed to shatter the Darknova Emerald, which caused my mother's death. As for my father, I don't know what happened to him, wether he's alive or dead."

"Wait," said Rouge, "if the Darknova Emerald was destroyed, how are you able to use it?"

"The emeralds rely heavily on the Master Emerald when either of them are destroyed. While the emeralds can be saved, the Guardian cannot be revived."

"So, we're gonna have to get your emerald back," said Sonic, "quickly"

"I agree," said Nathan, "but I can't do anything with a broken arm."

"Perhaps you could do some recon," said Rouge, "you could come with me and Shadow later to scout out the area. And if anything were to happen, we will be there to help."

"I think I'll take you up on your offer," said Nathan.

After Rouge had finished bandaging up Nathan, the Guardian quickly walked off towards Shadow, engaging in a conversation with the Ultimate Lifeform. Sonic and Rouge couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"How are you holding up, Sonic?" Asked Rouge.

"I've been better," said Sonic, "I wish Dark would just leave me alone."

"I think we all want that," replied Rouge, "speaking of Dark, why was he so pissed off at Alexa?"

"I told her about him first," Sonic answered, "he wanted me to stay quiet about the whole thing."

"Well, the cats out of the bag now," said Rouge, "well, I better get ready for the recon mission. Talk to you later, Big Blue."

"See you later, Rouge."

Rouge sauntered off, leaving Sonic alone for a brief moment. Dark continued his snides and insulting remarks, leading to Sonic mentally telling Dark to keep quiet. Tails quickly approached Sonic, holding Alexa's bracelets.

"Hey Tails!" Said Sonic, calling out to his little brother.

"Hey Sonic," said Tails, sitting next to Sonic, "I've fixed the bracelets!"

"Sweet!" Said Sonic, looking at the bracelets, "good work buddy."

"Thanks," replied Tails, flustered, "I can't find Alexa, so I'm giving them to you to give to her."

"Will do," said Sonic, looking off in the direction Alexa went in.

…

_An hour later._

Shadow looked through the binoculars again, making sure that they had checked every part of the destroyed settlement. He, alongside Rouge and Nathan, had came across the settlement while scouting out the area. Shadow had speculated that this was perhaps where Venice was hiding but he couldn't be sure. Nathan was on lookout, trying to make sure no one had snuck up on them all the while Rouge was stealthy flying over the old buildings. He hoped that this mission would go off without any problems. That was the last thing he wanted.

"Shadow," said Nathan quietly, "do you think I'm weak?"

Shadow froze. He didn't know what to say to Nathan.

"No, I don't," answered Shadow, "a weak person wouldn't of been able to hold off Venice the way you did. Not to mention, that you couldn't possibly be weak."

"How?"

"Assuming the Darknova Emerald follows the same rules as the Supernova Emerald," said Shadow, "you would have to be strong in both body and spirit to wield it."

"Alexa is," replied Nathan, "but I'm not."

"You are," was Shadow's reply, "you just lack the confidence, that's all."

"I guess so."

"Shadow are you there?" Rouge's voice came through the communicator.

"What's wrong Rouge?"

"I've spotted Venice heading towards the temple," replied Rouge, "I think this might be where Minerva and Alexa's parents are."

"I'm thinking that as well," said Shadow,"well, let's go back to the group and-"

"SHA-!"

Shadow quickly turned around to see a dark figure grab ahold of Nathan, covering his mouth. He could barely see who the figure was, the only he could see was a black fingerless glove cover Nathan's mouth.

"Who are you?!" Shouted Shadow. The figure did not reply but pushed Nathan into Shadow before swiftly coming up from behind the Ultimate Lifeform and taking the red Chaos Emerald from him. Shadow caught Nathan and the pair followed the figure, who disappeared in thin air.

…

The rest of the group were telling stories around the campfire. There was still no sign of Alexa, which worried Sonic. As Knuckles finished his own ghost story, Shadow and Nathan stumbled out of the trees. The boys quickly looked around, searching for something.

"You two took off without me!" Said Rouge, walking up to Shadow and Nathan.

"Uh, what's going on?" Asked Sonic.

"Someone grabbed me from the shadows," said Nathan, panting, "they grabbed me and…huff…threw me into Shadow."

"Whoever it was," said Shadow, "has my Chaos Emerald."

"But you didn't see who it was?" Inquired Blaze.

"No, we didn't." Replied Shadow.

"What about the mission?" Asked Tails.

"There's a massive city not far from here," said Rouge, sitting next to Amy, "it looks abandoned and there's a massive temple on the mountain side above the city."

"No doubt Venice is hiding there." Said Amy.

"We'll come up with a plan tomorrow," said Knuckles, "I'm tired."

…

**_'She is coming to kill you, Sonic. She, a shadow of anger, of hatred, will end your life where you stand.'_**

Sonic woke up, startled by Dark's words. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at the group, where Alexa stood with a sharp knife, only centimetres away from Shadow's neck.

"HEY!" Sonic shouted.

Alexa darted into the trees, being pursued by a confused Sonic. Sonic ran through the trees before reaching a clearing, with no Alexa in sight. He was exhausted, spending the few minutes he had alone under the moonlight to catch his breath. He looked around in front of him, but couldn't find the princess anywhere.

_**'Behind you, Sonic.'**_

_'What?' _

**_'She is behind you.'_**

Sonic turned around, just in time for Alexa to pin him to the ground. She had placed two black chains around his ankles that kept him pinned down while she attempted to stab him with the same, sharp knife she had at Shadow's neck. Sonic tried to wrestle the knife away from the pair of them, but it was hard as Alexa had a very strong grip on the knife. And was without the added disadvantage of his ankles being chained to ground. Alexa pushed the knife further down, to the point that the tip of the blade was mere millimetres away from Sonic's chest.

"Alexa!" He shouted, "stop!"

Alexa ignored his pleas and continued to push the knife against Sonic's grip, nearly impaling him with the blade.

**_'Be grateful.'_**

Dark's voice echoed around Sonic's head as Sonic watched his hands grow claws, the very same that Dark used against him. He felt Dark help him push the knife away from them, and sent Alexa flying backwards. The chains unwrapped themselves and disappeared from Sonic's ankles. The blue blur quickly pushed himself up, the claws remaining as he got into his fighting stance.

"Who are-?" Sonic started, before looking down onto the ground.

The moon was above them at this point, it gentle glow lighting up the clearing like the sun. Sonic could see his own shadow on the ground, alongside some of the trees.

But Alexa's wasn't there.

"Ruby." Said Sonic, narrowing his eyes.

A wicked laughter escaped Alexa's mouth, as the dark entity wander over and picked up her knife.

**"Oh finally someone realised that this wasn't the pathetic princess,"** spat Ruby, her soothing, yet menacing voice echoed around the clearing. Her voice was a pitch deeper than Alexa's, and of a more sensual tone, reminiscent of Rouge's voice, **"at least I can drop the façade now."**

Alexa's appearance changed significantly. Her short, yellow hair with blue was replaced by long, blood red hair, tied up in a high, spiky ponytail. She wore a pitch black bodysuit with a tall collar. Her black high heeled boots had spikes around the top of the foot, with specks of dried blood on them. Her black fingerless gloves revealed her razor sharp nails, which were painted black. She had red lipstick on and her eyes changed from Alexa's calming brown eyes to a fiery, almost sinister red.

**"I think this look suits us better, don't you?"** She smirked at the stunned blue hedgehog.

"What's your game, Ruby?" Asked Sonic.

**"You act like you known me my whole life,"** replied Ruby, **"although I was under the impression that Alexa had told you what I want."**

"You want to rule?"

**"Obviously, and to do that, I need to get you brats out of my way!"**

Ruby launched several black energy blasts at Sonic, just as the hedgehog rolled out of the way. She then blocked Sonic's spin attack effortlessly, before summoning some sort of chain that she used as a whip against the blue hedgehog. Sonic quickly went behind Ruby and, with Dark's assistance, restrained Ruby to the best of their combined abilities.

**"Let go of me, you filthy rat!"** She snarled at him, trying to break free from his grasp.

"I'm not a rat!" Shouted Sonic, "I'm a hedgehog!"

Ruby stamped on his left foot, resulting in Sonic letting her go. Ruby then regained her whip, before observing the blue blur.

**"So, you're that weak that you have to rely on your Dark Form to defeat me? How embarrassing!"** She laughed, **"it makes me wonder what Alexa saw in you."**

"Oh shut up!" Spat Sonic, "how can you understand what Alexa feels when you're causing trouble?"

**"Because I am a part of her,"** answered Ruby, **"I am her hate, her envy, her anger, her darkest desires personified. I am to her, what Dark is to you."**

"Oh really?" Replied Sonic.

**"Oh really," **said Ruby,** "of course, our goals are different, as are the circumstances that created us, but one thing is the same across the board."**

"And what is that?"

**"You both resent the world around you," **Ruby smirked, **"you especially, to the point that Mephiles wants you as his disciple! Oh I know a lot about you, hedgehog, more than you can imagine."**

"You don't know anything about me!" Spat Sonic, as his temper began to rise.

**"Yes I do!" **Said Ruby, with a childish tone, **"I know you've got abandonment issues. I know that your mommy and daddy didn't love you. I know that you were captured by the Topaz Unit because-" **

"SHUT UP!" Bellowed Sonic.

Ruby laughed. Sonic didn't understand what she found so amusing but Dark seemed to have an idea.

**_'She's mocking you.'_**

_'Is now really the time?'_

**_'Here's a thought; why don't you sneak up behind her and put the bracelets on her wrist? Surely that will bring Alexa back'_**

_'And why should I trust you?'_

**_'It's either that, or you will have to deal with both Venice and Ruby. Do you really want to lose another friend?'_**

That was it.

Sonic quickly ran up from behind Ruby again, who struggled against his grip and placed the bracelets on her right wrist. Ruby shouted death threats as Alexa's appearance returned and her body went limp. Sonic carefully caught the princess as Dark's claws disappeared, leaving Sonic on his own again.

**_'That was a one off. DO NOT expect me to do that again.'_**

_'I'm grateful for it Dark.'_

**_'You should be.'_**

Alexa suddenly gasped for air and began coughing rapidly. Sonic put his hand on her back and began rubbing it, soothing her as she continued to cough.

"You'll be okay," he said, "you'll be just fine."

Alexa looked up at Sonic, clearly exhausted, and fell directly into him. Sonic wrapped his arms around Alexa, who was shivering rapidly.

"I-I-I'm…s-s-sorry" whispered Alexa, shivering in the cool midnight air.

"Shh, it's okay." Soothed Sonic, "it's not your fault."

"I-I-I'm a monster, a-a-aren't I?" Stuttered Alexa

"No, you're not."

"B-B-But I a-am"

"Well, then we're both monsters."

"Y-Y-You're n-n-not"

"Yes I am," said Sonic, "if you think you're a monster then I must be one too."

"R-R-Really?"

"Really."

The pair looked up at the gentle and serene moon as its graceful glow lit up the clearing and the surround trees.

"Let's get some sleep before tomorrow," said Sonic, "tomorrow, we stop Venice."


	14. The Past is Never Dead and Buried

**_A/N I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter. Between being ill and losing concentration, this chapter took forever to finish. _**

**_Also I wanted to reply a Guest review. You're review was extremely helpful and I will try my best to extend the fight scenes where possible._**

**_Finally, the beginning of this chapter has a gore scene that some may find uncomfortable. I'd advise that you skip the first section and move on past to the line "Sonic woke up" _**

**_And with that out of the way, onto the chapter! _**

Sonic found himself in a dark room. A room he recognised. A room he couldn't forget.

His old bedroom.

The last time he was in here, he was only six years old. The day he finally left this place was one of his happiest memories. This one, not so much.

The room was dark, with the only light coming from the moonlight outside the broken window. Glass from the smashed window littered the floor, some shards covered in blood. Several bits of cloth were stitched together to form curtains in the room, with a few holes doted around the thin fabric, moving in the gentle, chilling midnight breeze. The paint on the walls was faded and peeling off like snake's skin. Blood, that was between several weeks to several months old, was splattered across the walls like flicked paint, and massive dried up puddles of the crimson liquid stained the carpet. Speaking of the carpet, it was never, ever cleaned, leaving a rancid, almost mouldy smell that was indescribable. His broken toys, (what's left of them) were all across the floor, alongside dirty clothes with holes covering them. His old race car bed was missing a leg and was destroyed, old bits of thin fabric acted as his blankets and pillow.

Sonic was seated at the far end of the room, opposite the door. The door was severely bashed in, and Sonic sat there tense as he could hear the shouting from downstairs.

"The rat is in his bedroom!" Shouted his mother, "probably hiding in his rags or whatever he does!"

"I don't care!" Shouted his father, "I told you several times, Aleena! I want him out!"

"Go get him then!" Roared Aleena, throwing something made of glass, "just leave me to my crystal!"

"STUPID WOMAN! DON'T YOU LISTEN TO A SINGLE THING I SAY!?" Yelled his father, beating Aleena, "now go and leave me in peace!"

Sonic was frozen stiff, unable to feel the tears roll down his cheeks like raindrops. He heard his frightful yet high as a kite mother scuttle into the next room just as heavy, monstrous footsteps slowly walked upstairs towards him. Sonic knew what this meant. He may be eighteen, but he still retained the fear, the unnerving tension he felt every time he heard his father come upstairs. He was going to be beaten.

His father kicked down the bedroom door, taking it right off its hinges. He went directly for his son, the smell of alcohol coating his aura. He pinned Sonic up against the wall, slamming both of his hands into Sonic's shoulders.

"What the fuck are you still here for!?" He roared, as the decaying smell of whiskey engulfed Sonic, "I told you to get lost, didn't I!? DIDN'T I?!"

Sonic found himself on the mouldy carpet, getting punched in both the face and the gut. Sonic attempted to shield himself from the rapid attacks but to little avail, as his nose and mouth burst open, blood began to trickle down his body from both injures.

"Why can't you just die, you pathetic freak?!" Shouted his father, "you are a worthless-!"

SPLAT!

"…monster…"

"No!"

Sonic looked in horror as he saw his own right hand in his father's chest, impaling him. Blood was pouring out everywhere, both on the floor and all over Sonic and his father. He could feel his father's heart beat rapidly and felt his own hand, moving on its own accord, grab the beating heart and rip it out. Sonic looked at the heart, no longer moving, in his own hand in terror before throwing it away from him. His father's corpse remained on the floor, blood pouring out of the body like a fountain. Sonic felt his tears roll down his face, he couldn't believe this. There was no way this was real right?

And it wasn't.

Dark once again appeared out of nowhere, smirking at the scene in front of him. Sonic's fear and agony truly delighted him so.

_**"What a delightful twist of a memory, huh Sonic?"**_ He smirked,**_ "I think so. Mmmm I definitely think so."_**

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Asked Sonic.

**_"Because you have made it very clear that you cannot handle yourself. You would've died at Ruby's hands if it weren't for me. You wouldn't of escaped the Topaz Unit if it weren't for me."_**

"Maybe," said Sonic, "but the torture and all this Mephiles stuff needs to stop!"

**_"No, it doesn't,"_** replied Dark,**_ "going through with that will make you stronger. No one will be able to control you. No one can defeat you. It is the perfect reward. The perfect opportunity for revenge."_**

"That's where we differ, Dark" replied Sonic, "I don't want revenge. Not anymore!"

**_"LIAR!"_**

The entire room began to collapse in on itself, just like what happened in the void.

…

Sonic woke up panting. He was wrapped in his blankets. He then heard breathing. Someone else's breathing.

He looked down his body, still lying down and saw Alexa wrapped in blankets with her head resting on his chest, sleeping soundly. He then remembered that Ruby had taken control of Alexa last night, and that he solved the problem, but Alexa was felt extremely cold, like she was in Holoska. Sonic then recalled that he had carried her back to the camp and they both wrapped themselves up in their blankets. All because Alexa was shaking violently because she was cold. It didn't make sense to Sonic, mainly because Alexa's Fire and Ice powers made her completely resistant to temperature change. He assumed Ruby had something to do with it. He looked up towards the sky, it was nearly dawn. He felt a small drop of water hit his chest. Sonic looked over to see Alexa crying in her sleep, mumbling something he couldn't quite make out. Sonic didn't want to wake the princess, but he had a good idea what was going on. He carefully shook the princess, whispering her name gently.

"Alexa? Alexa?" Sonic whispered in her ear, "Alexa, wake up."

Alexa woke up, surprised as she found herself lying on top of Sonic. She blushed as Sonic wiped her tears away, empathetic. They both sat up, and unwrapped themselves from the blankets.

"Are you okay, Alexa?" Asked Sonic.

"I've been better," replied Alexa, wiping away another tear.

"I take it Ruby isn't very happy at the moment?"

"She never is," said Alexa, "she's double pissed cause you stopped her from killing Shadow."

"I wasn't just gonna sit there and do nothing," replied Sonic, "that's one of my closest friends."

"I know," replied Alexa, "I'm not mad at you for stopping her. You did a good thing."

"Yeah, though I wish she didn't punish you for it."

"Yeah," sighed Alexa.

Sonic looked up at the sky, it slowly getting brighter.

"Weird question; have you ever seen the sun rise?" Asked Sonic.

Alexa sorrowfully shook her head. A part of him wasn't surprised. Another part of him felt sorry for her.

"Here, come with me," said Sonic, standing up and offering Alexa his hand, "let's go watch it, together!"

Alexa smiled as she graciously took his hand and pulled her up. They remained holding hands as Sonic lead Alexa down the stream and towards a hill near the waterfall, not far from the camp. The sun took a peek at the world, before moving majestically upwards into the somber blue sky, which became brighter and more lively with each passing minute, displaying other colours like a bright orange and baby pink. The colours looked like they were paint that an artist gracefully painted on a canvas, creating a serene and almost warm atmosphere unlike the harsh and chilling atmosphere the previous night. The two hedgehogs sat on the hillside, watching the sun rise and reclaim the world from the night, bringing with it a warmth like nothing they had ever felt before. It was calm, and peaceful, like all the conflict in world was at a standstill, slowly being erased. As the light from the sun continued to spill into the sky, Sonic pulled Alexa in to a passionate kiss, as the pair felt peaceful as they sat there. This continued for only a few minutes before they pulled away, and Alexa wondered what all this meant.

"So," she said, turning her head towards Sonic, "what does this make us? Are we a thing? Or are we just friends?"

"I think we should be more than just friends," said Sonic, looking into Alexa's eyes, "even though this whole mess is the reason we met in the first place."

"We would've met anyway," replied Alexa, "every time I spoke to Shadow, he would always speak so highly of you. I was curious and wanted to meet you for some time, to see the hedgehog that Shadow speaks so highly of."

"Well," said Sonic, flattered, "did you like what you saw?"

"Yeah, I did," said Alexa, "and I still do. So, it looks like we're making it official huh?"

"Yeah," replied Sonic, "let's see where this takes us."

…

Venice walked downstairs towards the cells. He had the Dark Legion create cells from the abandoned rooms beneath the main temple solely on the off chance that Sonic and his 'crew' found this place. He was still holding his sore jaw as he went directly to Mia and Clyde's cell, Minerva was in the cell next to them. They both had scowled as he approached the metal bars, his face bearing a wicked smile.

"It looks like Alexa's little secret has been revealed," he said, "not to mention that the little shadow escaped."

"Why are you doing this?" Asked Mia, upset, "why are you trying to free him? You'll lose your life!"

"Oh, I know," replied Venice, hands on the bars,"but I have already accepted the fact. I will gladly give up my life for my master's freedom. And he will be free, regardless of your daughter's interference."

"But you have forgotten the most crucial part," piped up Minerva, "you have no Controller."

"Ah, but you see," spat Venice, "I do. Sonic the Hedgehog is my master's chosen Controller. And five months ago, we nearly succeeded. But that pesky little princess stopped it with the Reversal Rite, hence why I have sought out an…_alternative_."

"There is no alternative!" Screeched Mia, "there is no other way to release him!"

"But there is," replied Venice, expressionless, "do you not know where we are?"

"We are in the Temple of the Four Gods, aren't we?" Came Minerva's voice.

"Yes," smirked Venice, "that is exactly where we are. And the Guardians are not far behind."

"They will stop you," said Clyde, "you won't succeed."

"I will," replied Venice wickedly, "I have the Darknova Emerald. In a few short hours I will have the Supernova Emerald in my grasp as well. It doesn't matter how powerful Alexa may be without the Supernova Emerald, she will fall, alongside Nathan."

"What about Mistletome?" Asked Mia, "it can kill your God."

"Oh, don't worry about that, your _highness_," spat Venice, "she won't live long enough to find it."

Venice walked off, back upstairs towards his throne room. Fiona was already there, alongside a unfamiliar individual. The person in question was a human, with short white hair and round glasses. He had a suit on and also sported a short beard. He appeared to be in his early forties.

"Am I right in saying that you are Dr. Calvin Snowfield," said Venice, sitting on his throne, "the former head researcher of the Topaz Unit?"

"Why do you want to know?" Asked Dr Snowfield, his deep voice echoing around the temple, "what use do I possibly have for you?"

"Answer me this," replied Venice, "did you do research on a young child called Maurice, who's nickname was Rory?"

"Back in the day yes," replied Dr Snowfield, "I managed to escape before he could kill me."

"What if I told you that I needed you to activate the hypnosis trigger that you placed in his mind?"

"Why?"

"Because he is my master's Controller, and I need him here."

…

Sonic and Alexa were walking back to the camp hand in hand. The pair had been sitting on the hill for a while before deciding to head back, before anyone began to worry.

"So, when are you telling me about the Topaz Unit?" Asked Alexa.

"Tonight, if we can get some alone time that is," replied Sonic.

"I think we will."

"If you're sure."

They wandered alongside the stream, listening to running water make its way towards the waterfall. Despite the danger that the island presented, it felt so peaceful to be by the stream.

"Hello again Sonic."

Sonic and Alexa swiftly turned around to face Lien-Da, who had several of her soldiers behind her.

"It's you," replied Sonic, "you're the one who took me to White Acropolis."

"I am indeed," was Lien-Da's reply, "now all that I ask is that you hand over the Supernova Emerald, otherwise things will get a little…_ugly_."

"I don't think so," said Alexa.

"Attack!" Commanded Lien-Da.

Several Legionnaires ran towards the duo, who smirked at each other's they went in to fight the Legionnaires. Sonic went ahead and spin dashed as many opponents as he could, taking the time to punch several in the face. He then turned to another set of Legionnaires and used his Homing attack on them, before punching and kicking the crap out of them.

Alexa threw a mix of fire and ice blasts at a few Legionnaires before disarming a couple of Legionnaires who were wielding guns. Alexa then quickly summoned the Ice Lance (she didn't use the Ice Knight armour this time) and began to engage the more bulky Legionnaires, all the while keeping her distance, mainly to avoid the Supernova Emerald being stolen. The lance had turned a couple of the Legionnaires into solid ice as the slightest touch of the tip of the lance. They simply shattered into millions of pieces. Lien-Da observed the fight, before bringing out her black whip and attacking Alexa from behind.

"Shit," Alexa said, as she narrowly avoided the whip.

Lien-Da swung the whip several times at Alexa, who barely managed to avoid it. Lien-Da then had the whip stuck onto the Ice Lance, and began to pull the elemental weapon away from Alexa. The princess kept a strong grip on the lance, which began to freeze Lien-Da's whip. As Alexa pulled the lance one more time, the whip shattered and both Lien-Da and Alexa fell backwards simultaneously. Alexa quickly got up and picked Lien-Da up with her psycoakenisis and threw her into the group of the Legionnaires that had formed behind Sonic, all of whom fell like bowling pins. Sonic darted over to Alexa as Lien-Da picked herself up.

"Give me that emerald now!" She shouted.

Sonic and Alexa looked at one another.

"Nope!" They said in unison.

Sonic quickly spin dashed Lien-Da into the air. Alexa then jumped up and summoned the fire dragon spirit, which rapidly hit Lien-Da several times before she had hit the ground. Alexa then fired a few Chaos Spears at her for good measure, before turning her attention to the rest of the Legionnaires who were racing towards her. It didn't take very long to deal with them as Alexa continued to disarm them using systema and Sonic then came in and knocked out the disarmed Legionnaires. Once the Legionnaires were unconscious, Alexa quickly turned around only for Lien-Da to tackle the princess to ground.

"Hand it over!" Spat Lien-Da, grabbing the golden necklace around Alexa's neck.

"Get off of me!" Shouted Alexa, trying to get Lien-Da's hands off the emerald.

Sonic then ran up to the girls and kicked Lien-Da hard in the stomach, narrowly missing Alexa. Sonic and Alexa watched as the Supernova Emerald, which was now in Lien-Da's hands, ferociously burn her hands, nearly setting them alight.

"OW!" Yelled Lien-Da, dropping the emerald.

Alexa quickly caught the emerald before it could hit the ground as Sonic pinned Lien-Da down to question her briefly.

"Why do want the Supernova Emerald?" He asked, his voice filled with venom.

"Venice asked me to acquire it," Lien-Da replied, "he needs both the Supernova and Darknova emeralds to open the portal."

"What portal?" Asked Sonic.

"The portal to the Dark Dimension," said Alexa, "Venice will die if he goes in there."

"Oh, he's not going in there," smirked Lien-Da, "oh no, it will be you, Controller."

"If I hear Controller one more time…" Muttered Sonic, his temper rapidly rising.

"That won't be happening anytime soon," said Alexa, "you can't make him your Controller anymore."

"I can't," said Lien-Da, "but Snowfield can"

Sonic felt his heart skip a beat.

"Snowfield?" He said in disbelief, "as in Dr. Calvin Snowfield?"

"The very one," answered Lien-Da, "I'll get that emerald eventually."

Lien-Da then threw a smoke bomb and disappeared. As the smoke cleared, Alexa looked over to Sonic, worried as the hedgehog remained silent, his head facing the ground in regret. She could see the agony on his face as she took a few steps forward, but being wary of her distance.

"Sonic?" She asked. Her voice was gentle, cautious but showered with compassion.

"I owe you an explanation," he said, turning to face Alexa, "and that's what you are going to get. I hope you are ready, my past isn't exactly pretty."


	15. Sonic's Story

**_A/N 10 rewrites. I'm so happy that this is finshed._**

**_So major heads up; this chapter contains Child Abuse, Drug and Alcohol misuse and a slight reference to domestic abuse. So be warned. Feel free to skip over this chapter if you are sensitive to the themes above._**

**_So with that out of the way, enjoy and Happy Halloween! _**

_My life was never anything other than horrific. I don't remember my parents showing me any love or care. They didn't want me. They didn't like me. They wanted me gone. Out of their lives. My mother was always taking some sort of crystalline substance that made her high. She was a drug addict and I knew that from a very young age._

22nd March 3474

"HOW DARE YOU!" Shouted Aleena, pulling the bag of crystal away from her four year old son, "HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM ME!"

She slapped the young boy so hard in the face, that a red mark was left, burning his flesh. The boy was left crying his eyes out.

"Mama! I didn't! I didn't!" He pleaded, "I didn't do it!"

"Don't you test my patience boy!" Shouted Aleena, "there will be no dinner for you! Go straight to your room and stay there!"

"But Mama-!"

Aleena grabbed her son's quills and dragged the poor boy upstairs and threw him into his room. He landed on the crusty floor ungraciously as he face planted into the mouldy carpet. His mother, who looked at her own son unsympathetically, slammed the door shut and locked him in his room.

"Mama!" He cried, "Mama! Please!"

He put his head against the door and fell on his knees in defeat. He sobbed for what felt like hours, drowning in his own sorrow and tears. His mother wasn't coming back, since when did she ever come back and cuddle him? He thought he was so stupid.

_My mother was only ever looking out for herself. She treated me like I was nothing more that dirt. Sometimes I was less than dirt to her. I wasn't her son. No, I was her slave, her boxing bag, her little stress toy. And believe me, she was a lot worse without her drugs._

24th March 3474

"Little brat! Come here!" Demanded Aleena.

The small blue hedgehog walked over to his mother, his head down, tears already streaming down his face like a waterfall. He was so sure he hadn't done anything to upset his Mama, but she wasn't interested in the slightest.

"I told you to clean the kitchen floor, didn't I?"

"Yes you did, Mama."

"That is not clean!" She screeched, pointing at a relatively clean floor, "I want it spotless! Do you understand Rory?!"

"Yes Mama" replied Rory. He went to grab the mop, just as Aleena yanked it out of his hands.

"Oh no you won't!" Aleena shouted, "you will use your toothbrush and the washing up soap! Now get to it!"

_I would spend hours cleaning every room in the house but my own. My mother said to me that I was 'a pig. An animal that lives in dirt and rags.' I wasn't a person to her. But I will gladly admit she was a thousand times better than my old man. He was an animal. Always in the bars drinking and drinking until he was throwing up fresh whiskey. He was never really in the house, working during the day and out drinking at night. But when he was home, he was a violent thug. Not a man, an animal._

"Don't you ever speak to me without being spoken to, you little rat!" Bellowed his father, slurring and clumsily stumbling about the living room, "I will teach you! You won't be cheeky to me again!"

"Daddy please!" Shouted Rory, at his father's mercy, "don't h-h-hurt me-e p-please!"

Rory coughed as his father smashed the young boy into table, before slapping the young child hard in the face.

"Don't you demand anything from me!" His father shouted.

He swung Rory around from the arms, dislocating the boy's right arm. Rory screamed in pain as he fell onto the floor, screaming in pure agony. He could barely feel his arm anymore as he was dragged upstairs by his father and, before throwing the poor boy into his room, punching him in the face. He screamed even more as he was chucked carelessly into his room like a rag doll.

"Now, be QUIET!" His father roared.

Before Rory lost consciousness, he heard the door slam and being locked. He hated this. He hated being on the carousel of pain and suffering that kept going round and round.

_He would beat me. Constantly. There was not a day that went by that I wasn't hurt because of them. I couldn't escape, I couldn't fight back. I was trapped on this torturous roller coaster that I desperately wanted to get off of. I had no choice but to put up with it. Don't get me wrong, I did love my parents dearly, but that love became hatred when I realised that they didn't love me. _

15th April 3474

After another beating at the hands of his father, Rory found himself crying to sleep, shivering violently as the chill in the nights air poured into his room. His father had smashed the window, leaving his room covered in broken glass. Rory had cut himself on the glass and had his blood painted on him. He curled himself up into a ball and cried and cried.

"Don't they love me?" He sobbed harder.

_I thought I was all alone. I thought I had no one. I had nothing but tears, sorrow and my own broken heart. Then, out of the blue, Dark showed up. _

Rory continued to cry, his fur becoming absolutely drenched in tears. He curled up into a ball as he began to drown himself in his own tears. The room was eerily quiet, both of his parents were away, probably for drink and drugs. As he continued to wallow in his own self pity, a voice suddenly spoke to him.

**_'Maurice.'_**

Rory looked all around the room, unsure of where the voice was coming from.

**_'I'm not in your room, Maurice.'_**

"Who are you?" Asked Rory.

**_'My name is Dark. I am your Shadow Self.'_**

"What's a Shadow Self?"

**_'A Shadow Self is a built in friend that will always protect you. And guide you. I know every thing about you Maurice, and I know that you hold immeasurable power within you.'_**

"Cool!" Said Rory with excitement, "oh, can you call me Rory please?"

**_'If that's what you want, Rory,'_** said Dark's soothing voice,**_ 'however, you cannot tell anyone about me, not even your parents.'_**

"Why not?"

**_'Because they will try to take me away'_**

"Don't worry Dark!" Said Rory, "I won't let them!"

_My biggest mistake was letting him do what he wanted. At the start, if anyone had wronged me, even if it was nothing more than a misunderstanding, he would kill them. Brutally._

24th November 3474

Today was one of the days that Rory was allowed to attend school. He was very rarely in school because of his mother wanting him to clean up after her. He loved going to school and getting out of the house, but didn't like how far behind he was compared to everyone else.

Rory was in his classroom listening intently to his teacher, Miss Morningstar, as she explained that today she was teaching them Maths. Rory's face fell when he heard her say Maths. It was his least favourite subject.

"Now who knows the answer to this question?" She asked the class.

Several hands went up into the air as Rory sat there, trying to figure it out. The question, which was one plus four, was as difficult to figure out as ancient languages. Miss Morningstar scanned the room, her dark eyes landing on Rory.

"Ah, how about you dear? Can you answer this question?"

"N-N-No I can't" answered Rory truthfully.

The entire class stared at him before laughing at him. Humiliated, Rory banged his fist on the table angrily.

"SHUT UP!"

After shouting, Rory's anger quickly turned into fear as he saw the corpses of his classmates and teacher, with an ocean of blood covering every inch of the room.

"I…I didn't mean…" He trailed off.

_After that, I was filled with guilt. Dark then decided to hand control to me, deciding that it would be best for me to control my power to avoid people getting killed by accident. He also was not happy that I was practically a boxing bag at home so he told me there was a way to fight back. He helped me channel my anger, my pain, my agony, into power. _

12th December 3474

**_'Focus, Rory.'_**

"I'm trying!"

**_'Think about all the times they hurt you.'_**

Rory nodded. He closed his eyes and began to think about all the pain that he had been through. All the insults. All the beatings. All the emotional pain he felt.

**_'NOW!'_**

Rory opened his eyes after hearing a loud bang in front of him. His bedroom door was blown to pieces, with small wooden splinters raining down all over the room. Rory was in awe as he looked at his own to hands, which had a black aura around them.

**_'That is Chaos Energy,'_** said Dark,**_ 'you can bend it to your will. And with that, you can have your revenge.'_**

"Revenge?" Said Rory, "what is 'revenge' Dark?"

**_'Revenge is punishing someone who hurt you. Someone who must feel the pain you went through.'_**

"RORY!"

Rory was snapped back into reality by his mother's shouting. She was standing in the hall, looking at the carnage. She looked at the mess with disbelief.

"How…?" She whispered.

She shook her head and grabbed Rory's arm.

"You are coming with me," she said, still looking at the wreckage. She then pulled Rory out of the room and down the stairs. Aleena ordered him to sit on the kitchen chair and wait as she quickly went and phoned a number.

_Once they realised that I had the ability to, potentially, kill them, they became afraid of me. The boy they hurt, the boy they abused, the boy who was nothing more than dirt to them, could get his revenge in a heartbeat. Instead of making things right, they decided that it was someone else's turn to look after me._

"Yes, well just obliterated his bedroom door!" Aleena hissed down the phone in fear, "it's not normal for a child to talk to themselves and destroy things! You must take him."

Rory was still seated on the chair in the kitchen, listening to Dark, who was telling him how to enact this 'revenge'. He was extremely excited to hear his friend talk to him, help him. Rory was so happy to have someone be nice to him, and not want to hurt him.

**_'Be wary. She may have her back turned but she can still hear you.'_**

_'What should I do?'_

**_'See that knife? Stab her with it in the leg. That will do.'_**

_'But I'm not allowed to touch the knives!'_

**_'If you want your revenge, do it. If not, then you'll will just have to put up will getting beaten again and again.'_**

Rory tip-toed over towards the knife that was sitting on the kitchen counter. It was a large steak knife with a sharp blade that could slice through steel. As he picked up the deadly weapon, he heard his mother angrily shout at the phone.

"He's not a child, he's a monster!"

After hearing his own mother call him a monster, Rory felt his heart break into millions of pieces. Everything he knew was a lie. His hope for a better life had disappeared, being erased as his hand tightened its grip on the knife. Him, a monster? No that can't be right! It was her that was the monster! Not him! Anger swelled up inside of him as he thrusted the knife into his mother's leg.

_I was so angry. I felt betrayed by those I thought cared for me. So I did what I thought was right. What was her rightful punishment. At the time, I felt rather pleased with myself, now I have nothing but regret._

Aleena howled in pain as blood began to pour out from her wound. The steak knife was imbedded into her left leg. She fell onto the floor, trying to remove the knife. Tears streamed down her face as Rory looked at her satisfied.

**_'She won't hurt you again. Well done!'_**

_'Thanks, Dark!'_

At that very moment, Rory's father walked in. He had clearly been drinking given the potent smell of alcohol that surrounded him.

"Aleena! What happened?!" He shouted. He ran over to his wife.

_Normally my father would walk in and begin smashing up stuff and hitting my mother. However, this was the only time he didn't. After finding out that I did it, he began kicking me around. I still had the knife in my hands and, with Dark's encouragement, stabbed him in the arm. He began bleeding heavily as some weird people came in. They were members of the Topaz Unit._

_They took me away to the facility on Christmas Island. Dr Snowfield was the head researcher. The Topaz Unit's goal was to create artificial soldiers, people who were unstoppable. Soldiers who were so powerful, that no one could stop them from conquering the world. I was the perfect candidate to them; because I was already unstoppable._

10th January 3475

"Candidate 1991! Come here!" Demanded the warden.

Rory walked towards the warden, already in tears, knowing what was going to happen.

"Y-Yes sir?" Rory said.

"Follow me," came the warden's cruel voice.

Rory followed the warden, as he lead him away from his cell and into a room with a weird looking chair.

"Sit."

Rory obeyed, knowing that he couldn't resist. If he did, they would kill him. And he didn't want to die. He wanted to go home and live a happy life with his mother and father. Instead, he subjected to more pain than he had at home.

"So, what is the results so far Doctor?" Asked the warden.

"He is absolutely perfect for a solider," replied Dr Snowfield, "he has what I believe to be the largest amount of Chaos Energy of any living thing! If we can get him to utilise it properly, he could destroy all our opponents before they even know what is happening. Of course, his age is a problem, but time is more than capable of dealing with that."

"Then again," said the warden, "his age could be quite useful. No solider would shoot a unarmed child."

"True," replied Dr Snowfield, "I could put in some sort of hypnotic trigger to control him."

"Do it."

"Very well."

_They put some sort of hypnotic trigger in my mind. The only person who could use the trigger was Snowfield. They could use me to kill and destroy their enemies. I felt so angry because I thought I could escape, but I couldn't. Dark had enough and both Dark and I escaped and got our revenge. We killed them all. All, but Snowfield._

24th February 3476

"CONTAINMENT BREACH! SUBJECT HAS ESCAPED!"

**_'Hurry up, Rory!'_**

_'I'm trying'_

_**'Clearly not hard enough'**_

_'I killed them!'_

**_'As you should of done a year ago.'_**

Rory ran through the halls, covered in the blood of his victims. They had strapped him down to that damn chair again. He had felt his anger reach its breaking point and ripped the scientists and the warden apart, leaving a bloody mess behind as he escaped down the halls.

The siren continued to roar throughout the facility. Rory ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, running out of the facility.

_I ran as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was, or where I was going. The only thing I did know is that I had to get away from there. I kept running until I reached the border of the Kingdom of Acorn, who was at war. I was taken in by a solider, who brought me home to his wife and continued to raise me. They weren't my real parents, but Bernadette and Jules were so kind to me. They treated me as if a was their own son. And as far as I'm concerned, they are my real parents._

_I stuck around the Kingdom of Acorn for years, before leaving with Tails, Amy and Knuckles four years ago. The rest is history._


	16. Morality

Alexa was surprised. She didn't expect his past to be that bad. Sonic looked off into the distance, his eyes closed. Alexa approached the blue hedgehog and, noticing the pain that was plastered on his face, pulled him into a hug. Sonic swung his arms around Alexa. They embraced each other tightly for a few minutes, which felt like forever.

"Without sounding nosey," said Alexa, after separating, "why exactly did you change your name?"

"Once Jules and Bernadette adopted me, I wanted to be called a different name, so it was like I was their proper child. Hence the name change," replied Sonic, "plus I like this name."

"So do I," said Alexa, "and this hypnosis thing…is it still active?"

"Probably," replied Sonic, "I have no idea."

"We'll need to get it removed," replied Alexa, "I can't do it, because I don't know how."

"Tails probably can't either," said Sonic, slightly disappointed, "do you know anyone who could?"

"Yeah I do," replied Alexa, "but we can't leave this island without dealing with Venice."

"Well," said Sonic, putting his left hand on Alexa's shoulder, "we better hope that Snowfield hasn't told Venice about it."

Sonic looked directly at Alexa, his emerald eyes meeting her soft brown ones. They both had a smirk on their face.

"So, you can see why I said I am a monster," Sonic said half heartedly.

"Maybe you were," replied Alexa, "but I don't think you are anymore."

"How so?"

"As I understand," Alexa explained, "we were only kids, kids stuck in difficult situations with no clear way out. In situations like that, morality shows its true colours; every shade of fucking grey. Nothing in this world is simply black and white, everything is a grey area, where any viable option could be considered right or wrong. To us, killing them was the right move. To others, it was the wrong choice. Deciding on whether or not to kill someone is reliant on context. My moral compass is different from yours."

"So, was it right?" Asked Sonic, "to kill the members of the Topaz Unit I mean."

"I'd say so, yes," replied Alexa, looking off into the distance, "they tortured a child. They wanted to take over the world. If anything, they had what was coming to them. But what about you? Was it the right thing to do?"

"It wasn't right," Sonic answered hesitantly, "you shouldn't kill people like that. Maybe if it was quick, I would've agreed with you, but it wasn't."

"I see."

"If Mephiles does return," pondered Sonic, looking up at the blue sky, "would you kill him?"

"If it meant that the world would be safe then yes," answered Alexa bluntly.

"Would you kill me if I became the Controller permanently?"

Alexa's breathing hitched. She closed her eyes, disgusted and in pain. Sonic looked over to the princess, whose arms were crossed and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Alexa?"

Alexa turned to face him, looking at him directly in the eyes.

"If I couldn't save you, I wouldn't hesitate."

"Can you promise me something?" Asked Sonic, as he and Alexa walked towards the camp.

"Sure, anything" replied Alexa.

"Promise me that, should I be under Venice or Mephiles' control, you will do whatever it takes to stop me, even if it means-"

"Killing you?" Said Alexa, "only if you promise the same to me."

"But-"

"I don't care if it's because of Ruby or something else," interrupted Alexa, "if, for whatever reason, I turn my powers against this planet, I need you to stop me, no matter what."

"I promise," replied Sonic.

Alexa nodded in agreement as they arrived at the camp, where Rouge quickly pulled them aside.

"Hey lovebirds, where have you two been?" Asked Rouge with a coy smile.

"We went on a walk," replied Sonic, "and lovebirds? Really?"

"I woke up early this morning to do some recon," said Rouge, "just to make sure we didn't miss anything important. I saw you two all cuddled up together."

"Yeah, well you ain't wrong." Said Alexa.

"So you guys are together?"

"Yes we are," said Sonic, "but let's just focus on dealing with Venice before it's too late."

"Agreed," said Alexa.

Sonic, Alexa and Rouge walked over to Tails, who had the rest of the group surrounding him.

"Hey, guys!" Said Tails, "I've got a plan to get us to Venice."

"Let's hear it," came Rouge's voice.

"Thanks to Rouge, Shadow and Nathan, we know that Venice is hiding in an abandoned city not too far from here. There's a temple on the cliff side, which is where Venice probably hiding. The Dark Legion, according to Rouge's scouting mission this morning, are crawling all over the city, so we need to split up and be careful."

"So how do you propose we do it?" Asked Alexa.

"We need to distract the Dark Legion so that we can sneak into the temple," explained Tails, "so Knuckles, Shadow and Blaze are going to make a massive ruckus on the far side of the city, while holding off the Dark Legion so that the don't interfere with our operation. Amy, Nathan, Rouge and myself are going to go through the side entrance to the temple and handle Scourge and Fiona, with me making sure that any machinery they have is disarmed. Which should leave Sonic and Alexa to make a beeline for Venice in the upper areas of the temple, while also locating Mia, Clyde and Minerva which my group can handle. Does that sound okay to you guys?"

"Sounds good," Said Sonic, "now let's go!"

…

_An hour later _

Shadow, Blaze and Knuckles crept their way through the abandoned city as quiet as a insect to the east side of the city. Shadow led Blaze and Knuckles into the plaza. Several legionnaires were patrolling around the plaza, weapons in hand. As Shadow peeked his head around the corner of one of the many ruined buildings, he quickly spotted Lien-Da gather all of the soldiers around her, absolutely furious.

"You pathetic imbeciles!" Shouted a very angry Lien-Da at her army, "thanks to you, we are all going to die if we don't bring the blue rat to Venice immediately! Now go and get him!"

"That's our cue," said Shadow, as Blaze darted around the corner and surprised the unprepared army.

"What the-?!" Stuttered Lien-Da unable to find her words.

Blaze quickly set several of the Legionnaires on fire as quick as lighting. She then covered the entire perimeter in fire, to stop any of the Legionnaires from escaping. Knuckles slammed his fist into one of the more bulky legionnaires, sending them flying into a nearby building. Knuckles then punched the bulky legionnaires hard in the gut before punching them in the face. Shadow ran directly to Lien-Da determined to put her in her place. He quickly dodged her laser as he teleported behind her and roundhouse kicked her.

_'I hope this works,'_ thought Shadow.

…

Sonic and Alexa walked through the desolate city quickly and quietly. The plan would go up in flames if they got caught. And so they decided to be extremely cautious when walking through the crumbling city.

"What is this place?" Asked Sonic, as he looked at the destroyed buildings, "what happened here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," answered Alexa, gently touching one of the decaying structures, "looks like these were made by some sort of sandstone. Though I don't recognise the design of these buildings."

"Though they look really old," said Sonic, "like Knuckles Clan levels of old."

"I wouldn't say that," replied Alexa, "I think it goes further back."

"How far?"

"Back when the Four Gods were on good terms," said Alexa, "long before the creation of Chaos Energy."

"That's an estimate, right?"

"Yeah but-"

Alexa stopped dead in her tracks. Sonic followed her gaze to the ancient temple above the city.

"I've seen that temple before," said Alexa, "I can't remember where though."

"Do you think this place has got something to do with Mephiles?" Asked Sonic.

"Probably," replied Alexa, "I wouldn't rule it out."

"Either way, Venice is up there," said Sonic, determined, "alongside Minerva and your parents. We need to stop him."

"You do realise it's by any means necessary right?"

"What?"

Sonic turned to face Alexa, shock all over his face.

"What do you mean 'by any means necessary'? Silver is my friend!"

"And by your friend, you mean someone who is hell bent to turn you into a God's servant? Look, I know he's your friend, and that you want to save him. But if he's completely consumed by the darkness, then there is nothing that we can do. If it comes to that, then we need to kill him."

"No we don't!"

"Yes we do," replied Alexa, "we have to make sure that the planet is safe!"

"It won't come to that though, will it?"

"Hopefully not," sighed Alexa, "but we can never be sure."

"I hope it doesn't come to that," said Sonic sternly.

"You really to care for your friends, don't you?" Said Alexa, walking ahead.

"Of course I do," replied Sonic, "anything they need, I'll help them. And in your case, I'm going to do anything to make you smile."

"Why?"

"Because I like to see you smile," he replied, "to make you happy."

"Sonic, you don't have to."

"But I want to."

Just as Sonic had finished his sentence, the ground they were standing on began to crumble.

"Whoa!" Shouted Sonic.

The duo fell through the ground, falling endlessly into the deep hole.


	17. Mistletome

**_A/N Sorry for the delay on this chapter. Life's gotten a bit hetic at the moment but hopefully the next chapter should be out before Christmas. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!_**

Sonic's vision was coming back to him slowly. As small shards of sight returned to him, he found himself lying flat on his stomach, facing the rugged concrete. He picked himself up sluggishly, with small pieces of rock rolling of his back. Sonic felt a sharp bit of pain cross his right arm like a plague. Taking note of the severe bruise that had appeared on his arm, the blue blur scouted the small, dark cavern for Alexa.

"Ugh…"

Sonic quickly turned around to see Alexa underneath some rubble. Sonic ran over to the princess, helping her stand up.

"Damn that was hell of a fall," said Alexa, as she rubbed her injured shoulder, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," replied Sonic, "are you?"

"Yeah," said Alexa, "I've been worse."

"That makes two of us."

The duo looked up towards the open hole above them, where small patches of light began to pour into the hole.

"No doubt the Dark Legion heard that," said Alexa, breaking the silence, "we need to find another way-"

"Look over there," said Sonic, pointing to the left, "what's that?"

Sonic was pointing at a gap in the wall of their left. There, bright light was beginning to trickle its way into the circler pit that Sonic and Alexa had found themselves in. As Sonic and Alexa peered into the chamber, they saw a golden gateway on the the far side of the chamber in front of them. The gold on the gateway was rusted in a few areas, showing that time had clearly taken its toll on the archway. In front of the inactive gateway was a pillar, where a golden blade floated just above the small pillar.

"I don't know," said Alexa as she walked through the gap and into the chamber.

Sonic followed her. As the duo reached the pillar, the sword began to glow brightly.

"What is all of this?" Asked Sonic loudly.

_"This is the passageway to my realm, young one."_

"Who-?"

Sonic turned around to see a portal form in the gateway, just in time to see a 6ft tall azure blue hedgehog with thick long quills walk through the portal. His teal eyes looked at Sonic, before shifting to Alexa.

"You're Tidus, aren't you?" Said Alexa, walking towards the deity, "the God of Fate?"

_"Yes, I am," _confirmed Tidus, _"and you are the current Guardian of Light, Princess Alexandria. And the chosen disciple of our enemy."_

"I'm not his slave!" Shouted Sonic angrily, "I'm Sonic!"

_"I see,"_ replied Tidus, _"you do not like our enemy any more than we do."_

"Of course I don't!" Replied Sonic.

_"My mistake,"_ said the deity,_ "I deeply apologise Sonic."_

"What's with the sword?" Asked Alexa, admiring the blade.

_"That is the Blade of Divine Light, Mistletome,"_ explained Tidus,_ "that blade is capable of defeating Mephiles once and for all. So long as the Supernova Emerald is in the blade and the Dark God is at his weakest. Take it, Alexandria."_

Alexa grabbed the sword's handle and lifted it off the pillar. Mistletome glowed gently as the Supernova Emerald also lit up. Mistletome was then placed on Alexa's back as Tidus turned his attention to Sonic.

_"As for you, Sonic,"_ said Tidus, holding out his hand,_ "it will do you well to wear this on your wrist."_

A silver band appeared on Sonic's wrist. The metal band had a green gemstone on the top.

"Neat!" Exclaimed Sonic, "hey, can I ask you something, Tidus?"

_"Of course you can,"_ replied Tidus, in a slightly happier tone, _"you can ask me anything."_

"Why is Mephiles doing all of this?"

Tidus remained silent. Alexa looked over to Sonic, who was believably nervous about the God's response.

_"Mephiles was, at one point, a kind-hearted demigod. If I'm being honest, I don't know who or what had caused Mephiles to become the immoral, malicious demon that he is now. He did, however, manipulate my dear friend Solaris into tampering with an experimental version of Chaos Energy, creating both the positive and negative attributes and fusing him with Solaris. My old friend is now gone, forever. And that demon is still here, causing misery and destruction from even the Dark Dimension. Given the evidence, my theory is that he is envious of us Gods."_

"Or he gets kick out of destroying everything on mass," said Alexa, "and torturing people it seems."

_"That is a viable theory," _sighed Tidus.

"Why exactly did you create Chaos Energy anyway?" Asked Sonic.

_"Chaos Energy was, initially, to keep everything in balance," _Tidus explained, _"it's purpose was to be the balance between Light and Dark energy, to be an effective neutraliser to both contrasting energies. There was no positive or negative versions of this energy until Solaris and Mephiles tampered with it."_

"That actually makes a lot of sense now," replied Sonic.

_"The Chaos Emeralds were created to harness the unique energy,"_ Tidus went on, _"and the Master Emerald would make sure that everything Chaos Energy related was in keeping with the rules. And to control the amount of power each emerald had."_

"Case in point, that's why there are seven emeralds and a Master Emerald" replied Alexa, "also I have a question; why is Mistletome and your gateway here?"

_"The city you are currently in,"_ said Tidus, _"is Aelvale. It was where all four of us would go to see the mortals. Our loyal followers lived here and our temple was constructed here."_

"Aelvale?" Said Alexa, "as in the Civitate Dei? God's city?"

_"Yes. I do hope that Mephiles' end comes soon, so we can be rid of his wicked ways once and for all. It would be one less thing to worry about."_

"Don't worry," said Sonic with his trademark smirk, "we'll stop him! I promise!"

_"Very well,"_ replied Tidus, _"I know you two can do it."_

And with that, Tidus teleported Sonic and Alexa to the surface.

…

Sonic and Alexa suddenly found themselves back in the abandoned city. As two found their bearings, they quickly headed towards the temple.

"That's one fancy looking sword, huh?" Said Sonic, looking at the divine weapon.

"Yeah," replied Alexa, "it kinda weird actually."

"How so?"

"It feels…kinda warm. Like there's this feeling radiating from it that fills me with hope…and determination I think. I can't quite describe how it feels. But even then, Mistletome seems quite lavish in its design to be used."

Mistletome was a golden sword for the most part, with the exception of the blade itself being silver. The blade was extremely sharp and at the hilt was several indentations around a gap in the hilt, presumably where the Supernova Emerald would be inserted. Sonic couldn't help but admire Mistletome for what it was; one awesome looking sword.

"I wonder why Tidus would give me this," Sonic said, looking over towards the sliver ring on his wrist.

"Maybe as a precaution?" Speculated Alexa, "maybe to prevent Dark from taking over again. I mean, this is the God of Fate we're talking about."

"Probably," replied Sonic, "anyway, let's just get to this temple and-"

Sonic turned around to find Alexa unconscious on the ground. Before he could go over to her, he felt something being stabbed into his arm. Sonic pulled out a red dart before feeling really dizzy and faint. As his body began to shut down, he collapsed onto the ground, his vision fading and his hearing disappearing. He did hear someone say something before he passed out.

"Welcome back, Controller."


	18. Setting the Playing Field

This was not how it was supposed to go.

Tails sat in his cell, crossed legged as he tried to figure out how his supposed 'flawless' plan ended up with him and his small group getting caught by Fiona and her squad. It was Amy who went a little overboard and attacked a guard while simultaneously tripping an alarm. But at least they found Minerva, Mia and Clyde.

Nathan was extremely relived to see his grandmother again. They were both placed in a cell together and Minerva was quick to spot Nathan's broken arm. Mia had asked Tails where Alexa was, but he didn't know. He had no idea how the others were faring at the moment. He wanted to reassure them that Alexa was okay but he couldn't. He had no idea where they were.

…

Alexa's vision was slowly coming back to her. She could barely make out her surroundings before hearing the door creak open and someone step inside.

"Wakey wakey princess!" Came a male voice as Alexa heard something slam against the stone cold floor. Alexa blinked a couple of times until Venice came into full view, carrying a whip made of Dark Energy.

"Enjoyed your little nap, princess?" Asked Venice, as he paced himself slowly towards Alexa.

It was at this point that Alexa had realised that her hands were chained together and attached to the ceiling, putting her a few metres up in the air. She struggled against the chains, trying to activate her ice powers, but nothing happened.

"Do you think I am stupid, Alexa?" Said Venice, who growled angrily as Alexa nodded her head, "that red headband neutralised your powers. You can't escape."

"We'll see about that!" Said Alexa, violently struggling against the chains.

"Your continued efforts to defy my God baffle me," said Venice, "your efforts to hinder his inevitable escape are futile. Yet you still persist in standing in the way. You took away the Controller, and now you're trying to bring back that pathetic mortal who resides within this vessel. Why do you resist him? Why fight what is already unavoidable?"

"Because what Mephiles plans to do with this world is wrong!" Snapped Alexa, "to unleash hell upon Mobuis is something that I won't just sit back and allow, not if I can do something to stop it!"

"But what motivates you, a powerful warrior who could destroy the world in mere seconds if you so chose, to protect the sinful, deplorable mortal race? The same people who tortured you as a child?"

"I'm no better than them if I used my powers to destroy rather than protect," replied Alexa, keeping her composure, "I don't answer to a God, I don't answer to you or anyone but myself. I'm doing what I think is right based on my moral compass. Do whatever you want, Venice, but know this; you are going to fail."

"That's quite the little speech, princess," said Venice, walking towards Alexa, "but here's the thing; I've already won."

"Oh really?" Replied Alexa, her voice laced with sarcasm.

"Yeah, really," Venice said, his voice becoming increasingly dangerous, "for you see, I have Sonic in my grasp. And after I'm done with you, he will bring my master back."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Venice hit Alexa once with the whip. Alexa screamed as it hit her, as it had burned her like the hottest of flames. It honestly felt like her flesh was being burned until only her skeleton remained.

"You can't go anywhere near raw Dark Energy, correct?" Smirked Venice, enjoying Alexa's suffering, "a hit like that in the wrong place will certainly kill you, won't it?"

Alexa struggled to answer as the burning refused to stop.

"Y-You bastard!" Scowled Alexa.

"Haha," scoffed Venice, "even in defeat you struggle like insect with one leg. Like you have a chance to turn it all around."

"I do!" Shouted Alexa, "I still have a chance!"

"You don't."

Venice quickly removed the golden necklace around Alexa's neck, which turned into the Supernova Emerald.

"Give that back!" Demanded Alexa.

"No I don't think I will," laughed Venice, "the only way your getting out of that, is when Ruby decides to make her appearance. I'm sure we would become great friends."

Alexa knew he was mocking her. But she tried to ignore it. Her main focus right now was to escape. Venice had left with the Supernova Emerald and had taken Mistletome, locking the door behind him.

…

Venice quickly ran to his throne room. The Supernova Emerald was burning him, and it was even more painful than the Darknova Emerald. Once he arrived, he quickly put the emerald next to the Darknova Emerald.

"Now don't you two think about getting out!" He snapped at the emeralds, "you're Guardians won't save you!"

"Why were you talking to those emeralds?" Asked Fiona, walking into the room confused.

"They're semi sentient, fox!" Spat Venice, "and they're wanting to be with their Guardians. Agh, that Supernova Emerald has one nasty touch."

"Here's the blue boy," said Fiona, dropping an unconscious Sonic onto the floor, "Snowfield is on his way."

"Excellent!" Said Venice, delighted, "now then, let's bring him to his senses."

…

Alexa shook herself. It was difficult to do, mainly because she was dangling from the ceiling but she managed to successfully do it.

"No pat down?" Scoffed Alexa, "fucking amateurs."

Alexa lifted her legs, up until the were completely vertical. She then pulled off the heel of one of her boots, switching the secret device to the laser beam setting and activating it. Alexa sawed right through the chains, and landing gracefully on her feet quietly. She popped the device back into the boot, before removing the headband.

"Now, to find Sonic,"

Alexa silently walked to the door, which was locked. She pulled out a lock pick from top of her boot and quickly unlocked the door. Alexa took a small peek into the dimly lit hall, taking note of one guard in the direction she had seen Venice go off in. Alexa snuck up to the guard and quietly knocked the guard out with her elbow. She continued to make her way down the various halls without alerting any guards, but she did hear a familiar voice come from a couple of rooms down.

"Tails we need to get out of here!"

Was that Amy? Thought Alexa, I thought- oh that's why we were found. Alexa snuck up to the door, and noticed a guard on the other side of the door. She waited until the guard moved away before entering the room and swiftly knocking the guard out with her leg.

"Alexa?!" Said everyone in unison.

"Shhh!" Alexa hushed the group.

Alexa quickly froze the bars, causing them to shatter in millions of little pieces. Mia ran towards her daughter and hugged her, with Alexa returning the sentiment.

"Oh, Alexa!" Said a very worried Mia, "I was so worried! I didn't think you were going to be okay!"

"I'm fine, Mom."

"Where's Sonic?" Asked Amy, "where is he?"

"We got separated," answered Alexa, "Venice found us. He locked me up several halls away from you guys. He took the Supernova Emerald and Mistletome."

"Wait," said Minerva, "you found Mistletome? How?"

"Tidus' gateway is beneath the city," said Alexa, "this is Aelvale. Tidus explained everything to Sonic and myself. Look, just get out of here okay? I'm going to find the emeralds and Sonic."

"You can't go alone!" Said Rouge, concerned, "I'll go with you, just to be safe."

"No you can't," said Alexa, "I can't risk anyone getting hurt."

"What if the emeralds are smashed, Alexa?" Said Rouge, "you can never be sure. I can look after myself you know!"

"Fine!" Said Alexa, giving in, "Tails, you can get everyone out without tripping the alarm right?"

"You can count on me!"

…

"That should do it," said Snowfield, writing in his notebook, "he will only answer to your commands, Venice. It doesn't matter which form he's in, he will answer and do whatever you command him to."

"Excellent," smirked Venice, "now let's give it a little test drive. Stand up, Sonic!"

The now dark blue hedgehog immediately stood up, his appearance now completely different to what it was before. He flashed a wicked smirk at Venice, acknowledging his command. At this point Lien-Da burst into the room, her clothes ruined and her body beaten.

"Three of his friends are heading this way, Venice," reported Lien-Da, "and the others have escaped, including the princess."

"I thought I told you to keep an eye on them!" Snapped Venice.

"I did! I tried!"

"Trying and failing is not an acceptable answer," smirked Venice, "Sonic, do us all a favour and kill the stupid bitch!"

The dark hedgehog lunged at a terrified Lien-Da, pinning her up against the wall. He pulled his arm back and…

_I'm not a killer anymore. I don't want to hurt her!_

Sonic tried to hold his arm back, but he couldn't. Fortunately for Lien-Da, those small couple of seconds he had hesitated for allowed her to push him back. She attempted to run, but Venice had teleported in front of her and ripped her heart out, causing a river of blood to pour out of her corpse like a fountain. Sonic, Snowfield and Fiona nearly threw up at the sight, while Scourge looked away and Venice crushed the pulsating heart, before tossing the organ aside.

"Why did you hesitate?" Asked Venice, his bloody hand lifting Sonic's chin up slightly.

Sonic didn't want to answer. But he couldn't stop himself from answering Venice.

"I'm not a killer."

His voice was monotone, almost robotic. Sonic could feel Dark's presence everywhere, but even he couldn't control him.

"I think we can fix that," smirked Venice, "you've killed hundreds of people, all without thinking twice. And you will kill more."

Venice dragged Sonic out of the throne room to a dark room with an old looking statue that had Negative Chaos Energy dripping all over it, with a massive amount at the base of the statue, making it look almost like a fountain.

"I think it's time for a little swim, don't you?" Venice mocked the hedgehog with childlike glee as he pushed Sonic into the deep trench with little sympathy.

"That should get rid of any _morals_," Venice smirked, "Now that the playing field has been set, it's time for the Guardian to fall!"

**_A/N Why does Alexa have a laser beam as the heel of her boots? In case of an emergency, that's why. _**

**_So we're basically coming up to the climax of the story. I don't think this story will be anymore than 24 chapters at most, but we'll see. _**

**_Anyway thanks for reading, Sonadow out!_**


	19. Drowning in Darkness

_Sonic ran after her. Sonic ran after him. Both were standing still, one arm outstretched, inviting him to join them. Sonic chased after them, but with every step forward they moved further away. No matter how fast he went, he could never catch up. Before long, the atmosphere in the empty void changed. And they spoke to him, mocking him._

_"__You really thought that I'd been with you?" Scoffed the Princess, "a malicious freak show with abandonment issues? Hahahaha!"_

_"__Why do you persist in hanging around with us?" Laughed the Ultimate Lifeform, "why don't you go back to the little hole you came from and disappear?"_

_Both of them turned around and walked away into a bright light. Sonic tried to catch up, reaching for the princess…_

"Don't go!"

Sonic woke up shouting. He could barely remember his dream before waking up. Sonic sat up and took a look around, finding himself in Dark's dungeon. The drab walls and dark interior remained but there was something different about the dungeon.

Some of the walls had flecks of gold and other bright colours, which was rather unusual for Dark's castle, which was always coated in dark colours. Another unusual occurrence was Dark sitting in a corner next to the bars, he was also in the cell.

**_"_****_What are you screaming for?"_** Asked Dark, irritated.

"I just had a really messed up dream," answered Sonic. He didn't want to fight with Dark, not when he had questions of his own.

**_"_****_Of course you did,"_** muttered Dark.

"What's going on, Dark?" Asked Sonic, sitting up on the bed, "why are you in the cell?"

**_"_****_Venice had given me more Negative Energy,"_** explained Dark in his usual bored voice,**_ "so I took over your mind like before. However, that pathetic Doctor activated the hypnosis trigger and made so that you are completely obedient to his commands. I was placed in the cell for that very reason. You were able to fight for control because of that thing on your wrist."_**

"The ring Tidus had given me?"

_**"**__**Yes, however Venice has just dropped us into a large basin of Negative Energy which will eliminate any chance of you fighting against him."**_

"So what do we do?" Asked Sonic, walking over the corner opposite Dark and sitting down next to the bars.

**_"_****_I suggest we at least gain some sort of control over this body and get out of the basin before you are completely suppressed."_**

"Right, but what about getting out of here?" Pestered Sonic.

**_"_****_Must I think of everything?"_** Spat Dark.

"Well, it is your castle."

**_"_****_The bars were altered so that I couldn't escape," _**said Dark, **_"go and break them."_**

"Fine. Fine."

Sonic picked himself up off the stone cold floor and preformed his signature Homing Attack on the bars. As Dark predicted, Sonic was able to saw right through. Dark then exited the cell after Sonic.

**_"_****_Follow me,"_** Dark said adding, **_"if you don't hurry, you will be consumed. Look at your ankles, it's already started to take effect."_**

Sonic looked down at his ankles to see his fur turn darker, to a dark midnight blue. Sonic looked at Dark as the dark hedgehog walked off. Sonic followed Dark through dungeons and up the stairs into the main hall. The dark and gloomy castle appeared to be abandoned for the most part. The empty structure was completely silent, with only the sounds of the hedgehogs feet keeping them company. Dark seemed determined to stop the darkness from consuming him, but why? Why would Dark try to stop the one thing that would give him what he wants? Several of these questions were bouncing around Sonic's head like footballs.

"Why are you doing this?"

He blurted this out. He didn't actually want to say it out loud but, as usual, he spoke before he thought things through. Dark took a quick glance at Sonic before sighing.

**_"_****_Isn't it obvious?"_**

Sonic was surprised. Dark, while still sounding like an emotionless jackass who can only feel anger, sounded a lot calmer and almost…sad in a way that wouldn't be clear to those who didn't know Dark well.

"I'm sorry to say that it's not."

**_"_****_You are me, as I am you,"_** sighed Dark, **_"what hurts you, hurts me. If someone beats you up, I feel every punch, every kick. I hear every insult, every remark. If it hurts you, physically or emotionally, I feel it. I feel the exact same way. The difference between us is that I'm willing to dispose of those who have hurt us. You don't want to kill them, punish them. I still don't understand why."_**

"Because I'm not better than them if I kill them," explained Sonic, "not to mention it makes me feel worse than before."

**_"_****_But you've killed people before without remorse,"_** replied Dark,_** "what changed?"**_

"I got a new home," answered Sonic, "a new family. New friends. I got what I dreamed of, a life of adventure and friends to share it with."

**_"_****_And a lover."_**

"Of course!"

**_"_****_I see,"_** said Dark as they went upstairs towards the Sanctum.

They went up the lengthy staircase in silence, with Sonic pondering over Dark's response. Sonic knew Dark wasn't telling him the complete truth, as he didn't completely answer Sonic's question. The blue blur checked himself over, with everything below his waist now a sinister shade of dark blue. Dark seemed to have noticed this too, as he had quickened his pace. Sonic followed his dark self as they both reached the Sanctum.

In the Sanctum, a large cloud of dark purple mist was hovering above the floor. Sonic felt something rather off about all of this, but he knew he didn't have much of a choice. Dark looked over at Sonic

**_"Come, let's get rid of this for good."_**

Before either of them could dispel the mist, the dark cloud engulfed the pair and everything went dark. Beyond dark. As Sonic opened his emerald eyes he could see nothing but an endless abyss of darkness. He was floating in the abyss, but felt claustrophobic in the open space, like he was being restrained. The deafening silence sent chills down his spine, the silent darkness felt consuming, powerful, unending, inevitable.

**"CHILD." **

A venomous, merciless voice cut through the never ending silence like a knife slicing through flesh. It was haunting, sending several shivers throughout Sonic's body, yet he felt compelled to listen. It was...enticing.

**"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE INESCAPABLE,"** the malicious voice echoed across the darkness like a plague, consuming Sonic, **"YOU ARE MINE. YOU CANNOT ESCAPE YOUR FATE. DO NOT RESIST THE DARKNESS, IT WILL CLEANSE YOUR SOUL FROM MORTAL RESTRAINTS."**

"NO!" Shouted Sonic, "I won't become your slave!"

Sonic continued to struggle against the invisible restraints but to no avail. The darkness consumed him, swallowing him in a pit of darkness and despair. The last thing he heard was the voice laughing wickedly.

**"I AM MEPHILES, YOUR GOD!"**

**_A/N I hope you guys had a good Christmas and New Year! I should be back to uploading chapters a bit more often this year alongside some new stories. Please R&R! Sonadow out!_**


	20. Light vs Darkness

Alexa was both surprised and puzzled at the lack of guards around the ancient temple. From personal experience, a lack of guards typically meant one of two things; they were either walking into a trap or Venice had been successful and all of the Dark Legion were killed. While neither scenario was preferable, Alexa hoped that it was at least the former. But the absence of any resistance from Venice's forces made Alexa very tense. She didn't want Rouge to get hurt in something that had very little to do with her. It was her responsibility to deal with Venice and stop Mephiles. Not Rouge's. Not Sonic's. Not anyone else but Nathan and herself.  
Alexa shivered as they approached the nearby 'throne room', she could sense the insatiable, lustful Dark Energy pouring out of the room like a tsunami engulfing the coast. Something felt really..._off_ about this. Alexa couldn't put her finger on it as she tried to get closer to the room, only for her body to weigh her down.

"Ugh..." Alexa groaned as her body began to drop to the withered sandstone floor.

It felt like her bones weighed the same as a huge boulder. The crushing, suffocating sensation spread like wildfire throughout her as body slowly shut down. A wave of nausea came crashing into her as she sat up against the wall, unable to move her heavy limbs.

"Alexa!" Called Rouge as she ran towards the weakened princess.

Alexa slowly moved her head around to see the ivory bat make her way over to her. Alexa hated it when others see her like this. She was supposed to be helping them, not the other way around.

"What's wrong?" Alexa looked at the agent's worried face.

"There's so much...Dark Energy..." Alexa said, struggling to get her words out, "I...can't take it. My body is...shutting...down into...a...comatose state."

Her lips felt numb, frozen beyond saving. Rouge tried to help Alexa up, but the sheer weight was too much for the bat. It felt like she was carrying a corpse.

"Supernova...I need...Supernova..." Alexa trailed off, unable to say anymore.

..

Venice pulled the dark hedgehog out of the basin. The old Solaris statue stood in grandly before them, it's towering and demonic aura made Venice somewhat uneasy. He couldn't explain it, how could he be scared of his own master? It didn't make any logical sense to him. While Venice questioned these..._unnatural emotions_, Sonic had woken up and walked towards the throne room. Venice followed the darker hedgehog into the room, curiosity getting the better of him. Sonic had picked up the stone that Venice had found five months ago and placed it in a slot in the wall. The stone tablet had fitted the slot perfectly. Using the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic chanted something that Venice couldn't make out, and a dark purple portal appeared out of nowhere.

"Pull the lever," came Sonic's monotone voice.

Venice pulled the lever on the far side of the room which had hidden the portal from view. Venice didn't understand why Sonic had asked this of him.

"Why?"

"Because the Guardian is near and she must be dealt with."

...

Venice had ordered Scourge and Fiona to guard the emeralds in a different part of the temple, mainly to avoid the Supernova Emerald's Purification Aura, which could lure Sonic in and bring his 'mortal' self back faster than a bullet. Venice wasn't taking any chances. He wanted to succeed and as such, he wanted those emeralds as far away from Sonic as possible.

"Y'know what? Fuck this!" Said Scourge angrily, "I'm leaving! This is boring!""We can't do that!" Screeched Fiona, "Venice will kill us!""Yeah right!"  
"I'm serious!"  
As Scourge and Fiona began to argue, the airtight container toppled over off the table and both the Supernova and Darknova Emeralds landed gracefully onto the floor. The sentient emeralds quietly rolled across the sandstone floor, seeking their Guardians. While the Darknova Emerald headed for the exit, the Supernova Emerald hurried over to its Guardian, knowing for sure that she was in danger.  
The bright blue gem toppled its way down the stairs, making its way to Alexa, all the while avoiding the legionnaires. One legionnaire had spotted the emerald and tried to pick the emerald up, only for Supernova to set the poor soul's hands alight. Eventually, Supernova finally reached Alexa, who was slowly losing consciousness.

"How..?" Questioned Rouge as she turned to see the Supernova Emerald hop onto Alexa's lap.  
The emerald began to glow, getting brighter until Alexa's eyes fluttered open and she jolted awake shouting something.  
"Xander!"  
"Who's Xander?" Asked Rouge, clearly confused by Alexa's outburst.

"I...I'm not sure," replied Alexa, who was just as confused as Rouge, "I saw something...like some sort of flashback. A memory..._someone else's memory_. I was fighting alongside a bunch of knights and I was wearing armour similar to the Fire and Ice Knights but, the armour was golden and I had this white cape...and there was so many of them...these _dark creatures_ that I have never seen before...and I just turned around and saw this knight get struck down by some strange women...then I woke up."  
"It sounded like you knew the person," replied Rouge, "whoever this Xander is, you two must have been close for you to shout like that."  
"But I don't know this knight," explained Alexa, "I've never met him before."  
Alexa tried to stand up, but nearly toppled over onto the floor again. Rouge helped the Guardian stand up as she held onto the Supernova Emerald.  
"I didn't know Supernova could move on its own," Rouge said.  
"It can," answered Alexa, "when it needs to. It can also talk but it seems only I can hear it's voice."  
"It does sound like how Knuckles guards the Master Emerald," pointed out Rouge, "he claims it speaks to him."  
"I don't doubt that," replied Alexa.  
Once Alexa was able to stand on her own two feet, the princess turned the emerald back into its necklace form before walking towards the throne room.  
"The emerald should help me withstand the large amount of Dark Energy," Alexa said, "be careful."  
"I should be saying that to you." Replied Rouge.  
Alexa and Rouge kicked the door down, being far from discreet. Venice was sitting on his throne, smirking at the pair as both entered the room and got into their fighting stances.  
"It's over, Venice!" Shouted Alexa.  
"Oh, I'm sure it is," smirked Venice, "as much as I've enjoyed our encounters, Princess, I truly believe it is time for us to finish this foolish game."  
"Why are you doing this?" Asked Rouge, "you don't do this, Silver!"  
"DON'T YOU EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!" Roared Venice angrily, "you mortals are all corrupt. Corrupted by Envy, Gluttony, Pride, Lust, Anger, and Greed. All of you are blinded by _his_ light and fail to see how corrupted you all are. My Master will wipe this planet clean, and start over without sinful mortals."  
"You can't do that," replied Alexa, "people make mistakes. Many learn from them, you can't just destroy the planet because some people make mistakes!"  
"Oh I can't," said Venice, "but _he_ can!"  
The next thing Alexa knew, a dark ball had smashed her into the wall on the left. Alexa usually was able to react faster than this, but she had clearly had given Venice more attention then he deserved. Once she had dropped to the floor, she looked up to see a very angry, very dark blue hedgehog with razor sharp claws and teeth.  
"That should keep you busy, Guardian!" Shouted Venice.  
"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" Said Alexa.  
Sonic lunged at Alexa, who swiftly jumped out of the way before grabbing the corrupted hero and throwing him into the wall opposite her. Sonic gritted his teeth before moving faster than light speed, which had caught Alexa off-guard for only a second before she avoided his attacks. Alexa quickly froze the ground beneath Sonic and lifted her hand up which caused the frozen area underneath Sonic to rise up quickly as it crushed him. Sonic, however broke the ice and began to clone himself until there was about ten Sonics in the room. Alexa transformed into the Fire Knight and drew her blade, poised and ready.  
The different Sonics came at different angles at different times. Alexa was quick to cut many of the clones down. One of the Sonics tried to attack Alexa from behind only to break its bones against the unbreakable armour. Alexa quickly dispatched the clone by cutting its head clean off. The real Sonic was the only one left standing after Alexa was finished tearing the clones to pieces. Sonic dashed towards Alexa, who knocked him back with her shield. Alexa switched to the Ice Knight and decided to use her lance's extra range to benefit her. She swung the lance at Sonic, with only the tip of the lance grazing him. The moment the tip of the lance made contact with Sonic's fur, it immediately froze his fur and continued to spread, freezing Sonic in place.  
"Sonic, I know this sounds really cliche but," Alexa said, taking off her helmet, "I know you are in there Sonic. I know that you are stronger than this, alright?"  
Those words fell on deaf ears.  
Sonic broke out of the ice and, while Alexa's guard was down, grabbed her by the throat.  
"Agh!" Struggled Alexa as she gasped for air.  
Sonic's soulless white eyes stared at the pleading maroon eyes of the girl in front of him. He tightened his grip, and held his prey steady as she struggled to breathe. Alexa could see the environment around her going black before the hand that was firmly around her neck was removed.  
Alexa dropped to the floor, gasping for air and coughing violently. She looked up to find Fiona standing in between them.  
"Fiona?!" Alexa said, surprised.  
Fiona ran towards Sonic and rammed him into the wall.

"Use your divine blade!"  
Alexa pulled Mistletome out of its scabbard and impaled Sonic in the chest with the divine blade. A golden light began to spread across his body but not before he clawed at Alexa's face leaving a claw mark that began underneath her left eye and went down her face until it reached the bottom of her head. Alexa pulled the sword out as Sonic collapsed, not wounded, but exhausted.  
"He's not dead, is he?" Asked Fiona hesitantly.  
"No, he's not," answered Alexa, "there is no blood on the blade. If I killed him, the blade would've been coated in blood."  
"I knew this was a bad idea," said Fiona, shaking her head.

"Explain."  
"Venice hired us to do some digging into Sonic's past," explained Fiona nervously, "to be honest, I didn't expect to see Venice, since you seemed to have things covered five months ago."  
"Yeah, well even the best of fighters fuck up from time to time," replied Alexa, "Sonic was the main priority, as he was the one we were gonna lose that night."  
"I see."  
"You might wanna bail before Venice-"  
"_Too_ _late_!"  
Out of nowhere, Venice stabbed the young vixen in the chest. As Fiona's lifeless body dropped to the floor, Alexa attempted to attack Venice, only for him to hold Rouge in front of him.  
"Not so fast, Princess," Venice taunted, "give yourself up now, and I'll spare the bat. If you don't, she's as good as dead. Your choice."  
Alexa remained silent. She smirked at Venice as a now conscious Sonic kicked Venice from behind. Venice had pushed Rouge and the ivory bat accidentally landed on a lever, a portal behind Sonic, Alexa and Venice, which pulled all three of them into its dark interior.


	21. Mephiles, the God of Darkness

If Sonic got a ring every time he woke up in a dark, drab empty void he would be bathing in gold rings. He found himself in front of some of medieval castle, dark purple flames lit up the castle from the outside. He tried his best to pick his beaten body off the ground, but his overwhelming exhaustion from everything that happened recently pulled him back down towards the dirt that he had landed on.

Where did it go wrong? He could vaguely remember the last peaceful day he had. He was running around the back garden, kicking up dirt at every sharp left he made. Shadow rarely spoke to him then, if he did he didn't ask if Sonic was okay or telling the blue blur that it wasn't his fault, instead they had stupid arguments that were so serious at the time, but were ultimately childish and insignificant to the fights that had ensued recently. Silver, in all of his naïveté, would separate them. The last time Sonic saw Silver, the_ real_ Silver, was five months ago when he went to the store and never came back. Just like he, himself, never came back from his run. How could he forget the deranged damage he caused? Central City-east end destroyed, New Magix-destroyed, Westopolis-reduced to ash. He destroyed those cities. He killed all of those innocent people who lived there. And who was to blame for all of this? Everyone would say it was Mephiles or Eggman, but Sonic truly believed it was his fault.

It was his fault that Silver was no longer with was his fault that Dark had returned.  
It was his fault that Eggman had nearly won.  
It was his fault that Drago, Lien-Da and Fiona were dead.  
He was the only one to blame.  
He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of Alexa picking herself up from the dirt, Mistletome in hand, now covered in golden armour that mirrored the one worn by the knight on the tapestry in Cornidea's Castle. A pure white cape was draped over her shoulders as she looked at the armour, shocked.  
"What the heck?" Said Alexa, checking herself over in shock, "what's with the fashion change?"  
"No idea..." Sonic trailed off.  
"Okay...?" Replied Alexa, "what's wrong, Sonic?"  
"Nothing, it's just..."  
"Just what?"  
"What's the point of all this?" Sonic began, feeling the urge to vent, "what are we going to achieve by killing yet another person? I mean, let's face it Alexa, there is no way we can stop this, stop _him._ I'm no better than Mephiles, you know that right?"  
"Sonic, I-"  
"I killed thousands of people, _thousands_ Alexa! I murdered innocents without batting an eye. I simply didn't care. I _enjoyed_ it. So I did it again and again, not stopping to think. So maybe fighting against someone who sees me as such is just pointless."  
"That's not true-!"  
"THEN WHAT IS ALEXA?!" Sonic roared, startling the princess, "WHAT IS? I'VE KILLED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AND NOW WE ARE GOING TO KILL ANOTHER PERSON, IN THE VAIN HOPE THAT IT PUTS AN END TO THIS?! HOW MANY MORE ARE WE GOING TO KILL AND JUSTIFY BY SAYING ITS FOR THE "GREATER GOOD"? GO ON, ALEXA, TELL ME HOW IS ANY OF THIS RIGHT?!"  
"Y'know what? You're right," replied Alexa, "you are absolutely right. We are going to kill a God. We are killing him, to save everything in existence. To save Silver, we must do it. But that doesn't mean it is right. Nothing involving warfare and fighting is right. None of it. Are we the heroes? Or the villains? Do such people truly exist? Who knows? But one thing that I know for certain, is that nothing we do is ever right nor wrong when it comes to fighting and self defence. The 'greater good' doesn't exist. It never has, and it never will. It is something that the simple-minded use as an excuse to for go consequences. To believe that they have the moral high ground and if they kill it's justified. Both sides to a conflict are both inherently good and evil. Dark enjoys killing people, Ruby does too. But does that mean we do?"  
"I don't," replied Sonic quietly, "but _you do_."  
"I do kill," answered Alexa, "but only when I believe it is absolutely necessary. I always acknowledge how gruesome and inhumane it is, because it stops me from thinking it's okay, when it's not."  
Alexa put both her hands on Sonic's shoulders.  
"It's all in the past, Sonic. That past does not define you in the present. People change, some faster than others. Granted there are some who don't but I don't believe you are one of them."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah," replied Alexa, "besides, you are not killing Mephiles, I am. I do have the God-slaying sword after all."  
"True," Sonic said, "I'm sorry for shouting at you."  
"It's fine, you needed to vent that's all."  
"So, what do we do with Venice?" Asked Sonic, now acknowledging the unconscious hedgehog lying on the ground.  
"Leave him," said Alexa, "he's completely drained of energy. He won't wake up for a couple of hours, six hours at the most. Anyway, let's put an end to this, shall we?"  
"Let's." Sonic agreed.  
The duo walked cautiously towards the dark and sinister fortress, ready to engage in a fight when the enemy presented himself. Both Sonic and Alexa could feel their darker halves crawling around their bodies, whispering their evil and wicked desires to them. They were trying to tempt them. Tempt them to the side of evil. Not that it worked.  
Alexa pressed onward, Mistletome in hand, through the dark and eerie hallways towards the throne room. Ruby was whispering away as usual, much to Alexa's annoyance.  
**'Why don't you just give this up? Stop this silly crusade and we can tear the world apart!'**  
'_Yeah, no I would much rather fight a dark deity than go with your ideas.'_  
**'We can rule the world. Don't deny it, _princess,_ I know you want to see the world at your feet. You are craving it!'**  
_'Shut up, Dark!'_  
'**Ugh! Stop that!'**

Unfortunately, Sonic wasn't having much luck. To his credit, Dark was persistent when it came to things he desperately wanted. Very persistent.  
**_'I can't believe you are going to throw away such a...good opportunity for revenge. It truly sickens me.'_**  
'_Good. You deserve it.'_  
'_**It does make me wonder, what if Alexa turns her divine blade against you? You wouldn't be able to stop her from killing you. You also can't stop her from breaking your heart either. When she inevitably leaves you, what will become of you?'**_  
_'You are a terrible liar, Dark.'_  
'**_Am I lying? After all, you've already hurt her.'_**  
'_What?!'_  
Sonic looked over towards Alexa. He couldn't believe that he hadn't noticed the mark on her face before. The claw mark under her left eye was bleeding out bit by bit, although Alexa hadn't seemed to acknowledge the pain. Guilt began to weigh on Sonic as he looked at the mark he made on her face.  
"I'm sorry, Alexa."  
"Hm? What for?" Questioned Alexa, startled at the sudden sound of Sonic's voice.  
"For hurting you, leaving that mark on your face."  
"It's fine honestly," replied Alexa, "it'll heal. And besides, you weren't in control of yourself, Venice was. I don't blame _you,_ not truly."  
"Doesn't it hurt?"  
"Only a little."  
Sonic continued to follow Alexa down the dark and eerie hallways, feeling an overwhelming sense of trepidation as he took each step forward. He could barely see the path ahead, as it was covered in a pitch black blanket, that shielded the path from view. Both hedgehogs pressed on in the vain hopes that something along the ominous cobblestone walls would lead the to Mephiles, or at least give them their bearings. But no such luck...  
Until they reached the end.  
At the end of the hallway, a pair of grand yet sinister oakwood doors blocked their path, chained together to keep something or someone in. Not wishing to delay their mission any further, Alexa cut right through the chains with Mistletome as Sonic pushed the heavy doors open.  
Inside the huge room, the dark deity himself was chained to the wall. The visible chains adorned the dark god's body, keeping him pinned up against the mossy, broken cobblestone wall. Mephiles' body was completely crystallised, red eyes with a envious green as an iris, with a slim, snake like pupil that slithered up to face the duo. The six foot deity sharpened his claws and flashed his sharp, flesh hungry teeth at Sonic and Alexa as he smirked wickedly at them.  
**"SO, YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME, GUARDAIN,**" Mephiles roared, shaking the entire structure with every word, "**AND YOU, CONTROLLER, HOW DARE YOU DEFY ME AGAIN! I WILL END YOU BOTH!"**  
"Yeah, good luck with that!" Shouted Sonic.  
Mephiles growled as he pulled himself away from the old wall. The chains that had held him for several millennia had finally withered away and snapped, freeing the demonic deity from his restraints. Mephiles stretched his wings before attacking both hedgehogs with a swing of his dark claws, Sonic ducked underneath his hand as Alexa simply blocked it with Mistletome, slicing his hand open. Dark crimson blood poured out of the wound like a waterfall as Mephiles launched Alexa through a wall in retaliation. The princess began to pick herself up from the rubble that had formed beneath her as Sonic attempted a homing attack on the god, whom simply batted him away with his hand. Mephiles roared as he picked Sonic up, crushing him with his suffocating grip, before reeling back in pain after Alexa slashed away at his ankles, blood spewing out of it like a river. Sonic landed on the cracked concrete floor. Mephiles, enraged at Alexa, grabbed the young guardian and pounded her against the ground repeatedly until the floor eventually gave way and collapsed beneath them, causing both hedgehogs to fall into the dark depths below, landing in a huge accumulation of raw Dark Energy.  
"ALEXA!" Roared Sonic, noticing the princess was now unconscious and sinking below the now sticky substance. Just before Alexa had disappeared out of view, he noticed that her once pristine, golden armour had begun to wither and decay.  
And then it hit him.  
She wasn't supposed to be near Dark Energy.  
It was her one weakness.  
"**HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA**!" Cackled Mephiles, his evil voice ringing throughout the stronghold, "**NOW THERE IS NO MORE LIGHT GUARDIANS TO STOP ME FROM DESTROYING EVERYTHING IN EXISTENCE!"**  
Anger.  
Hatred.  
Disgust.  
Rage.  
He felt all that and more as the sticky substance attached itself to his body, coating him in a shiny, black coat. He felt his innermost thoughts and feelings grow stronger and more persuasive, this was going too far. Mephiles had gone too far.  
Just like his parents.  
Just like his teacher.  
Just like the Topaz Unit.  
Just like...  
"DARK!"  
He had just managed to spit that word out before his vision had disappeared, clouded by the Dark Energy. He didn't care anymore. He was no longer cared about himself, or anything else. He just wanted to make that malicious demon pay.  
He wanted revenge.  
He desired revenge.  
Remnants of Mephiles' wicked laughter echoed in his ears, clinging to his very soul, his very core, mocking him. Mocking _him?_ No, that was just taking this further. That wicked beast has crossed the line and is now mocking him? That's it.  
That's the last straw.  
He snapped.  
"**_Aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhh_**!" He roared.  
Sonic, now completely covered in the sticky black substance, began to feel a river of energy flow all around his body, making him stronger. His fangs grew until they were razor sharp. His claws grew until they were able to pierce through his gloves like a needle. His fur reverted back to the familiar midnight blue it was five months prior. Only his eyes remained unchanged, albeit slightly discoloured, as if there was a red lens on top of his irises. The now dark hedgehog roared in anger, ripping the sticky substance off his flesh. Now free, he noticed something as he flew up to confront Mephiles.  
Mistletome was stuck in his right ankle.  
The Dark God was unable to pull the divine blade out. As Mephiles looked up, Sonic pounded the deity into the nearest wall, which crumbled into little pieces thereafter due to the impact. Sonic launched several Dark Chaos Spears at Mephiles, then dived in to pull Mistletome out of the demon's ankle. Sonic dropped the sword after it scolded him, it landing in the Dark Energy cesspool. He was slightly taken aback to find the sword purifying the dark abyss below, and decided to let it. He had his revenge to get first.

...

"**My my. What a poor excuse for a Guardian. She can't even fight the one being that she was destined to fight. Ha!"**  
_Alexa woke up to find herself in the throne room of Ruby's castle. She could barely remember what happened to her after Mephiles had pounded her into the cracked stone floor. She began to shiver, it was, oddly cold here. Colder than usual._  
_Ruby sat atop her throne, with a rather bored expression painted across her face. Her head was resting on her right hand, which had been turned into a fist. She watched Alexa's every move with a sense of caution. Alexa's powers were as unpredictable as the princess herself, whether Ruby wanted to admit it or not. _  
"_Why am I here?" Alexa asked._  
"**You, like the fool you are, landed yourself into a big lake of Dark Energy. You sunk like a rock into it and now we are both going to die because of your stupid little stunt."**  
_Alexa didn't expect Ruby to answer her. Not immediately anyway. It just not what Ruby does._  
_"It wasn't stupid." Protested Alexa, "I saved Sonic!"_  
**"No you didn't,"** _replied Ruby_, **"your actions had also landed him in that abyss. Although he hasn't passed out. Not yet at least."**  
_"Care to elaborate?"_  
"***sigh* he was quick to transform into his Dark Form, using his shadow self's powers to defeat Mephiles. It will wear him out quickly so you have to get up off your lazy ass and kill Mephiles before Sonic runs out of energy."**  
"_Since when did you hand out advice?" Asked a shocked Alexa._  
_**"It's not advice, it's an order!"** Snapped Ruby, slightly flustered, **"**_**you know I'm always right. Always. I don't want to die and neither do you so get a move on or I'll take over instead."**  
_Ruby snapped her fingers, causing the grand pinewood doors to open, leading into a bright white light, unlike the drab, dark interior of Ruby's castle._  
**"Get out of my sight,"** she snapped at Alexa, **"ugh, I can't believe I'm helping you."**  
"_Me neither," replied Alexa as she walked into the white light._

...

Sonic continued to punch Mephiles rapidly until the dark being sent him flying into the only remaining wall in the building. Or what _was_ a building. The intense battle had completely eradicated the entire prison, leaving nothing but rubble behind. Sonic began panting, this fight was exhausting his energy to say the least, and yet he had to keep pressing on, for Silver and Alexa's sake. For everyone's sake.  
His newfound desire to destroy Mephiles stoked the flames of anger inside him, powering his body to dish out all sorts of pain. He got back up after that blow and dived straight for Mephiles' heart, digging his blood-soaked claws into his flesh, but it wasn't enough. Mephiles simply chucked him aside.  
A blinding light caught both their attentions, as they were both looking over to the pit of Dark Energy. They watched as a knight in golden armour jumped out of the hole, divine weapon in hand. Alexa had returned.  
Sonic felt somewhat relieved, but that feeling became engulfed and consumed by anger and hatred. He pushed his relief and happiness aside, he was determined to end this. He has had enough.  
Nodding to one another, both Sonic and Alexa rushed towards Mephiles at once. Alexa jumped up, raising her sword, and struck Mephiles in the head with it. Simultaneously, Sonic once again lunged for Mephiles' chest, digging deeper and deeper until he ripped his heart out.  
His blooded corpse dropped to the floor, blood pouring out like a fountain. Alexa and Sonic, covered head to toe in blood, looked at the now deceased God both relieved and slightly horrified at the sight. Alexa couldn't stomach the sight any longer and turned to face Sonic, who was panting heavily.  
"Are you okay, Sonic?" She asked. She kept a firm grip on her sword in case Sonic was actually Dark.  
"**_I'm fine,_**" replied Sonic, his voice sounded like a fusion between his own and Dark's, **_"you're alive?" _**  
"Yeah," replied Alexa, "Ruby helped me."  
"**_As you can see, Dark helped me,_**" said Sonic, his monotone voice echoed around the empty realm,"_**who knew?"**_  
Shortly after those words left his lips, Sonic felt extremely light-headed. He swayed violently before collapsing in exhaustion in Alexa's arms.


End file.
